Achim Zimmermann

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Achim Zimmermann (born June 23, 1958 in Dippoldiswalde ) is a German conductor. He has been director and artistic director of the Berlin Singakademie since 1989 and artistic director of the Bach Choir Berlin since 2002 .

Life

Achim Zimmermann was born in Dippoldiswalde near Dresden in 1958 . From 1969 to 1977 he was a member of the Dresden Kreuzchor . He studied choir and orchestra conducting at the Liszt School of Music Weimar . In addition, he completed international conducting seminars in Germany, among others with Helmuth Rilling , and in the USA .

In 1984 Achim Zimmermann became choir director of the Suhl Philharmonic and director of the Suhl Singing Academy. In 1989 the Berliner Singakademie chose him to succeed Dietrich Knothe as its director. Achim Zimmermann taught from 1991 to 2001 at the "Hanns Eisler" University of Music in Berlin . From 1993 to 1998 he held a professorship for choral conducting there. Since 2002, Zimmermann has been the successor to Hanns-Martin Schneidt , Helmuth Rilling and Karl Hochreither at the helm of the Bach Choir Berlin and the Bach Collegium, Berlin.

Services

The works of Johann Sebastian Bach , Georg Friedrich Handel and especially Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy , who provided decisive impulses for the development of singing academies in Germany, are at the center of Zimmermann's work. He attaches great importance to the choral symphonies and a cappella literature of the 20th century. Compositions by Arthur Honegger ( Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher , Le Roi David ), Bohuslav Martinů ( Gilgamesh epic ), Frank Martin (Golgotha, In Terra Pax), Benjamin Britten ( War Requiem , Saint Nicolas Cantata ) and Hector Berlioz ( Grand Mass des Morts ) was performed by Achim Zimmermann with the Berliner Singakademie. The performance of the “Polish Requiem” by Krzysztof Penderecki also attracted attention . Zimmermann's repertoire also includes the Renaissance and Classical periods . Heinrich Schütz , Claudio Monteverdi , Andrea Gabrieli on the one hand, Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on the other are among the composers of the over two hundred concerts he has so far organized with the Berlin Singakademie.

As the first work of the 21st century, he conducted the world premiere of one of Georg Katzer's most important works , “Medea in Korinth” - oratorial scenes, a commission from the Berliner Singakademie, for which Christa and Gerhard Wolf wrote Christa Wolf's novel “ Medea : Voices ”to the libretto for this arrangement. Zimmermann performed another commissioned work with the choir in June 2014: “ Das Glück ” by Helmut Zapf , a choral fantasy for mixed choir , alto solo and a small instrumental line-up, based on the elegy of the same name by Friedrich Schiller .

Zimmermann also works regularly on the works of Hanns Eisler , whose work has been interpreted by the Berlin Singakademie since it was founded in 1963. This includes numerous a cappella choir pieces, but also the "German Symphony" as one of the most important Eisler compositions.

Achim Zimmermann is one of the conductors in Germany who regularly performs Bach cantatas . In January 2002, in addition to his work as director of the Berlin Singakademie, he took over the management of the Bach Choir and the Bach Collegium at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. Apart from the summer break, Johann Sebastian Bach's cantatas are cultivated there every 14 days as part of a cantatas service.

Achim Zimmermann was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon in 2015.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Achim Zimmermann receives the Cross of Merit on ribbon , press release of April 16, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Zimmermann, Achim
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German conductor and choir director
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Dippoldiswalde