Rainer Kussmaul (3 June 1946 – 27 March 2017) was a German Grammy Award-winning violinist and conductor. Kussmaul was born in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

and studied at the

State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart The State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart (, or ABK Stuttgart) is a public fine art university in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1761 and has been located on the Weissenhof since 1946. Its campus consists of three buildings: the Altbau, ...

. He was professor in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, first concertmaster of the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

and led the Berliner Barocksolisten. He died in Freiburg at age 70.

Family and Early Life

Rainer Kussmaul, one of three brothers, received his first violin lessons from his father Willy Kussmaul who was solo viola in the orchestra of the National Theater Mannheim. After studying in Mannheim and with

Ricardo Odnoposoff Ricardo Odnoposoff (February 24, 1914 – October 26, 2004) was a Jewish Argentine-Austrian-American violinist of the 20th century. He was a former concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera and Vienna Philharmonic. He was dismissed on September 1, 19 ...

at the Stuttgart State University of Music and Performing Arts, Rainer Kussmaul soon won prizes in international competitions, both as a soloist and with his co-founded Stuttgart Piano Trio from 1968, the year of its founding, to 1997.

Teaching

Due to his talent he was also a popular music professor. Since 1977, he worked as a violin professor at the Freiburg Hochschule für Musik, preferring to teach the Baroque style. Among his students were Petra Müllejans,

Gottfried von der Goltz Gottfried Graf von der Goltz (born 1 June 1964 in Würzburg, Germany) is a German violinist and conductor, specialising in the baroque repertoire. Early life Born into the ancient Brandenburgish noble von der Goltz family, as the son of Conra ...

Daishin Kashimoto Daishin Kashimoto (樫本大進; ''Kashimoto Daishin''; born 27 March 1979) is a Japanese classical violinist. Since 2009, he has been the first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic. Kashimoto is fluent in speaking and writing in Japanese, ...

, and Jermulai Albiker. Later, in 1987, he was appointed director of the Academy in Baden-Baden.

Awards and Honors

* 2005: Grammy Award for Bach cantatas recording * 2010:

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

* 2012: Reinhold Schneider Prize from the city of Freiburg im Breisgau * 2017: Honorary citizenship of the Italian city of

Sessa Aurunca Sessa Aurunca is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy. It is located on the south west slope of the extinct volcano of Roccamonfina, by rail west north west of Caserta and east of Formia. It is situated on ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kussmaul, Rainer 1946 births 2017 deaths German violinists Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Musicians from Mannheim