Michael Hocks

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael Hocks (born December 21, 1943 in Spittal an der Drau ) is a German music manager . He was the artistic director of the Alte Oper in Frankfurt am Main .

life and work

The Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt-Höchst
The Alte Oper in Frankfurt am Main

Hocks grew up in Wiedenbrück in a music-friendly family, his two siblings later became professional musicians, and he himself took private piano lessons. His father worked as chief physician and gynecologist at the St. Vinzenz Hospital. After attending the Ratsgymnasium in Wiedenbrück and the boarding school St. Thomas der Dominikaner in Vechta (Abitur 1964), studied law at the University of Munich from 1964 to 1970 . He completed his studies with the first state examination, from then on worked as a freelancer in the music and theater department of the Goethe Institute in Munich, where he analyzed the reports of the Goethe Institutes from all over the world. His department head then put him in charge of one of the “... most renowned agencies in Germany ”, the concert directorate Hans Ulrich Schmid in Hanover. From 1977 to 1983 he was co-owner of this concert management as well as of the music house Döll in Hanover. In the course of time, Schmid looked after over 80 artists and created an extensive network that included artists, orchestras and concert promoters all over the world. He became friends with numerous musicians, including Alfred Brendel , Christoph Eschenbach and Pierre Boulez .

In 1984 Hocks changed "sides" and became director of the musical operations of the Hamburg State Opera and the Philharmonic State Orchestra . In 1986 the chemical company Hoechst in Frankfurt am Main appointed him director and authorized signatory for the Jahrhunderthalle concert and congress hall . He succeeded Hans-Georg Schäfer , who moved to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as artistic director. In Höchst , Hocks was able to realize a sophisticated music program with a budget made available to him by the company. The concert series had up to 10,000 subscribers. In the 14 years of his directorship, he also organized more than 60 exhibitions of fine art in the rooms of the Jahrhunderthalle.

In January 1998, Hocks was appointed managing director and artistic director at the Alte Oper concert and congress center , also in Frankfurt am Main, where he organized 350 events per year with a budget of 19 million euros. In addition, he raised a significant amount of sponsorship money from - primarily Frankfurt - companies. The events in the concert hall, which Hocks took over in a crisis situation, were attended by up to 500,000 people annually under his direction, with the occupancy rate of classical concerts reaching 86 percent in the end, and 91 percent for entertainment shows. Hocks retired on March 1, 2012, and was succeeded by Stephan Pauly , the former director of the Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg.

In 2008, Hocks was awarded the Goethe plaque by the State of Hesse for his services to art and culture . He lives in the Rheingau-Taunus district .

Fonts

  • Michael Hocks (Ed.): 25 Years Old Opera. A commemorative publication. Frankfurt am Main 2006

literature

  • Steffen Ball, Fernando Baptista: 100 Frankfurt heads: 10 questions, 1000 answers , B3 Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2006 ISBN 978-3-93878330-6 , p. 77
  • Deutsches Bühnen-Jahrbuch , Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnen-Members, Deutscher Bühnenverein, Günther & Sohn, 2010, p. 198

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Savior of the Opera . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of August 22, 2011
  2. ^ Stephan Pauly becomes artistic director of the Alte Oper . In: Die Zeit (dpa) from May 19, 2010
  3. ↑ Hans Riebsamen: Goethe plaque for Michael Hocks - first a festive meal, then the order of the country . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of November 7, 2008
personal data
SURNAME Hocks, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German music manager and artistic director
DATE OF BIRTH December 21, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Spittal an der Drau