Michael Russ (concert organizer)

Michael Russ (born May 15, 1945 in Unterkochen ) is a German concert organizer .

Life

Russ was born as the son of the Stuttgart concert promoter Erwin Russ in Unterkochen, where the family had been evacuated during the last years of the war. He completed his school education in a boarding school in Illertissen . After training as a music dealer in Ulm, in 1967 he joined the Südwestdeutsche Konzertdirektion Stuttgart (SKS Russ) founded by his father in 1945, in which his mother and three sisters also worked.

In 1976 he took over the management of the agency. Under him, the concert business continued to grow both at home and abroad. In the 1970s he brought Daniel Barenboim , the Gewandhausorchester , the Vienna Philharmonic , the New York Philharmonic Orchestra , Ella Fitzgerald and the Bee Gees to Stuttgart. In 1981 he organized the first tour of the Slovak Philharmonic . In the 1990s he organized Guns N 'Roses, the first open air concert on the Cannstatter Wasen . In June 1993 he brought Frank Sinatra to Stuttgart. During the soccer world championship 2006 he was responsible for the public viewing on the Stuttgart Schloßplatz .

In 1982 he took over the office of president of the Association of German Concert Directors (VDKD), which he held until 2015. In the same year the association named him its honorary president. Michael Russ is the initiator and jury chairman of the VDKD music award. Since 1985 he has been a co-initiator of the military concerts in the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle for the benefit of the action group multiple sclerosis sufferers . He is also deputy chairman of the Anne-Sophie-Mutter-Stiftung and the Rudolf-Eberle-Stiftung, founded in 1987, both of which promote the professional training of young musicians.

From 1996 to 2000 he was a member of the cultural structure commission of the state of Baden-Württemberg, from 2006 to 2009 a member of the art advisory board of the state government and is still a member of the culture committee of the state capital Stuttgart. As a political advocate for the cultural industry, he participated in the amendment of the Artists' Social Insurance Act and achieved easier customs formalities with regard to transported instruments.

In 2014 he was elected to the honorary council of VfB Stuttgart .

Through a variety of activities in cultural institutions that take care of artists' concerns in developing countries or “right on the doorstep”, as well as in orchestras in his hometown, he gained a high reputation.

Honors

• Honorary member of the Catholic student association AV Alania Stuttgart (1981)
• Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany (1985)
• Merit Medal of the State of Baden-Württemberg (May 8, 1993)
• Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany (May 11, 2005)
• PRG Live Entertainment Award in recognition of his life's work (April 9, 2013)
• Honorary member of the German Music Council (2015)

Web links

• Michael Russ GmbH
• Michael Russ on the website of the Association of German Concert Directors
• Michael Russ: A life for music The successful Stuttgart concert promoter is starting its 66th season .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Main State Archives Stuttgart , entry on Michael Russ in the finding aid of holdings J 191, newspaper clippings collection on personal history
2. ↑ Karsten Jahnke: A stroke of luck for our branch. 70 years of Michael Russ . In: MusikWoche . No. 21/2015 , May 15, 2015, p. 34 (untitled article within the specified main article).
3. ↑ Pascal Funke is the new VDKD President. In: vdkd.de. VDKD - Association of German Concert Directors, November 10, 2014, accessed on January 7, 2017 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Johannes Kreile: Tireless motor and stimulator. 70 years of Michael Russ . In: MusikWoche . No. 21/2015 , May 15, 2015, Focus, p. 32 f .
5. ↑ Anne Sophie Mutter: A stroke of luck for our branch. 70 years of Michael Russ . In: MusikWoche . No. 21/2015 , May 15, 2015, p. 36 f . (Untitled post within the specified main article).
6. ↑ List of medal recipients 1975–2019. (PDF; 180 kB) State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg, accessed on June 12, 2019 . 
7. ↑ VDKD President Michael Russ honored with PRG LEA for his life's work .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ VDKD Honorary President Michael Russ appointed honorary member of the German Music Council. In: vdkd.de. VDKD - Association of German Concert Directors, November 10, 2014, accessed on January 7, 2017 .