Michael Helmrath (born 15 April 1954) is a German

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past a ...

and conductor and since the 2016/2017 season, active as General Music Director of the .

Life

Born in

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "'' Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

, after studying

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

and conducting at the

Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln The Cologne University of Music ( is a music college in Cologne, Germany. Founded in 1850, it is Europe's largest academy of music. History The academy was founded by Ferdinand Hiller in 1850 as ''Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln''. In 1895 Ger ...

, Helmrath first embarked on a career as an oboist, which led him as principal oboist to the

Münchner Philharmoniker The Munich Philharmonic (german: Münchner Philharmoniker, links=no) is a German symphony orchestra located in the city of Munich. It is one of Munich's four principal orchestras, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Rad ...

and

Sergiu Celibidache Sergiu Celibidache (; 14 August 1996) was a Romanian conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over five decades, including tenures a ...

, who recognised and promoted him as a conductor. In 1989, he founded the Munich Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, consisting of the first desks of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra with its own concert series at the Philharmonie. From 2000 to 2015, he was general music director of the Brandenburger Symphoniker, which was nominated as "Orchestra of the Year" by the magazine ''

Opernwelt ''Opernwelt'' (''Opera World'') is a monthly German magazine for opera, operetta and ballet. It includes news about current performances, portraits of composers and performers, articles about opera house An opera house is a theater (structure) ...

'' under his direction. In addition to the classical opera and concert repertoire, he also deals with

Neue Musik Neue Musik (English ''new music'', French ''nouvelle musique'') is the collective term for a wealth of different currents in composed Western art music from around 1910 to the present. Its focus is on compositions of 20th century music. It is char ...

, and numerous works were

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its f ...

d under his direction. In addition, there exists numerous radio and television recordings, as well as CD recordings. Since the 2016/2017 season, Helmrath has been the general music director of the Theater Nordhausen/Loh-Orchester Sondershausen tätig.

Professional positions

Positions

* Solo oboist at the

* Generalmusikdirektor of the Brandenburger Symphoniker * Generalmusikdirektor of the Theater Nordhausen/Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Guest conductor

Germany

among others: * Orchesterakademie

Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival is a classical music festival held each summer throughout the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986 by German concert pianist Justus Frantz. In 2006, the 21 ...

Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden The Staatskapelle Dresden (known formally as the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden) is a German orchestra based in Dresden, the capital of Saxony. Founded in 1548 by Maurice, Elector of Saxony, it is one of the world's oldest and most highly re ...

* * Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin *

Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne The Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne (german: Gürzenich-Orchester Köln) is a German symphony orchestra based in Cologne. On some recordings, the orchestra goes under the name "Gürzenich-Orchester Kölner Philharmoniker". Its name comes from its p ...

NDR Radiophilharmonie The NDR Radiophilharmonie is a German radio orchestra, affiliated with the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony. The orchestra principally gives concerts in the ''Großer Sendesaal'' of the ''Landesfunkhaus Niedersa ...

Kammerorchester Berlin The Kammerorchester Berlin has been in existence since 1945 and its first director was the conductor Helmut Koch. Already in the 1950s, the orchestra succeeded in making a name for itself. Among other awards it received the ''Japanese Record Prize ...

* Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle * Stuttgarter Philharmoniker *

Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden The Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden ('Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden') is a German theatre located in Wiesbaden, in the German state Hesse. The company produces operas, plays, ballets, musicals and concerts on four stages. Known also as the ...

* Nürnberger Symphoniker * Thüringische Philharmonie *

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the city's court th ...

* Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden

Abroad

among others: *

Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (Hebrew: התזמורת הסימפונית ירושלים, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Simfonit Yerushalayim'') is a major orchestra of Israel. Since the 1980s, the JSO has been based in the Henry Crown Symphony Hall, part of ...

China National Symphony Orchestra The China National Symphony Orchestra (; abbreviated CNSO) is China's national orchestra. It was founded as the Central Philharmonic Orchestra of China (CPOC) in 1956 under the baton of the conductor Li Delun. In 1996, it was restructured and rena ...

* Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra * Gwangju Symphonic Orchestra * Orchestra Sinfonica Sanremo *

Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb The Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb ( hr, Hrvatsko narodno kazalište u Zagrebu), commonly referred to as HNK Zagreb, is a theatre, opera and ballet house located in Zagreb. Overview The theatre evolved out of the first city theatre opened ...

* Rijeka Nationaltheater *

Ljubljana Summer Festival The Ljubljana Summer Festival is a festival held between July and August in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It attracts notable opera stars, ballet and theatre performers and also eminent rock and jazz Jazz is a music genre that origi ...

* Miskolc Opera Festival

Recordings

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Helmrath, Michael German classical oboists 20th-century German conductors (music) Music directors 1954 births Living people Musicians from Wuppertal