Thomas Honickel (conductor)

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Thomas Honickel (born December 21, 1958 in Wuppertal ) is a German conductor .

Career

After school and high school graduation in his birthplace Wuppertal, Honickel studied music education as well as artistic subjects such as piano, organ and conducting at the Musikhochschule Köln / Wuppertal from 1981 to 1987, and then at other locations as a guest auditor as part of a postgraduate course . In addition, composition and ear training were major subjects of his training qualifications (state exams and artistic maturity examination).

During his time as a student, Honickel initiated the development of young music ensembles, which he led. As an instrumental soloist (piano / organ) he first appeared at the age of 15 and as a conductor for the first time at the age of 17. As a young student, he was able to deepen his ambitions in subjects such as composition and arrangement and try them out in practice from 1975 onwards.

With the establishment of the "Wuppertal Vocal Ensemble" in 1981, the focus was increasingly placed on the creative side. With this chamber choir he established himself in the Bergisches Land region. Guest concerts, radio and television appearances as well as the first sound carriers are worth mentioning from the 1980s. After a phase of preoccupation with early music (Renaissance, Baroque), the field of activity expanded to the 19th and 20th centuries.

In 1986 he founded the “Wuppertaler Instrumentalsolisten” with fellow students from various universities in North Rhine-Westphalia, which from 1991 onwards were named “young orchestra wuppertal” and “young philharmonic orchestra wuppertal”. After focusing on concerts from the 18th century with chamber orchestras, it quickly expanded to include symphonic literature with music from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Thomas Honickel is married to Sonja Honickel and has two sons from his first marriage.

Management of amateur ensembles

Honickel was artistic director of regional amateur ensembles in the vocal and instrumental fields in the 1990s:

• 1989–1999 - Schubert-Bund Wuppertal (oratorio choir)
• 1991–2006 - Burscheid Choir (oratorio choir)
• 1995–1998 - Mandolin Concert Society Wuppertal
• 1999–2001 - mixed choir “Germania” Leichlingen

Music mediation

In the time of the 1990s, the first contact with concerts that include the aspect of music education also falls.

With concerts with the participation of the musical partners of the time, Honickel developed his own ideas and forms of implementation that are intended to introduce young people to music. Based on the repertoire of the 18th – 20th In the 20th century, he developed numerous moderated concerts for children, young people and adults, which were supposed to explore the nature and effectiveness of (classical) music.

For this purpose he developed the label “Kid's Klassik” with local partners with over 50 productions in hundreds of concerts in the region. The focus is on the work in Wuppertal, where he can realize his ideas under optimal conditions at the historic town hall .

• Children's concerts
• Family concerts
• Sacred concerts
• Operas for children / children's operas

Startups in the 2000s

Honickel founded his own youth ensembles at the beginning of the century in order to realize various new ideas in which children are on stage themselves:

• 2000–2010 Kid's Classic Children's Choir Wuppertal
• 2001–2010 Kid's Classic Children's Choir Leichlingen
• 2010–2013 classix - the youth choir
• 2013–2019 Bonnsai Children's Choir
• 2014–2015 Big Bonnsai's parents choir
• since 2015 KlangEnsembleOldenburg - parents and friends

Professionalization

In 2003 he was engaged as a “concert teacher” for the Duisburg Philharmonic / Deutsche Oper am Rhein, where he worked as the first full-time music mediator in North Rhine-Westphalia until 2008. With concert formats and special projects as well as school concerts in all parts of Duisburg and guest concerts in the western Ruhr area, the new label “Klasse! Classic "made famous. Working with migrants and the less educated classes became a core task at that time. Overall, the education program reaches more than 50,000 visitors under his aegis.

The feedback from this initiative meant that Honickel accepted the call to Bonn to join the Beethoven Orchestra / Theater Bonn from 2008. Here he expanded his ideas and offers. Interlinking with other institutional partners (Theater Bonn) and those from the independent scene (ballet formations, choirs) led to new forms of presentation and a special anchoring of the education program "Bobby's Classic", which, under Honickel's direction, over 100,000 visitors from all Generations counted. At his own request, he ended this position in 2013 in order to take on new tasks.

The engagement of Christian Firmbach as general manager of the State Theater Oldenburg led Honickel to the north of Oldenburg in 2014. With Firmbach, Honickel had designed and co-developed concerts during his time as artistic director in Bonn, which became known as the “Florestan” concerts. Now Firmbach has brought him to the State Theater as head of the newly created education line “KlangHelden”. There he is responsible for the conception and artistic implementation of the children's concerts in the Little House, the family concerts in the Big House as well as sing-along concerts, school concerts and his own opera productions. In addition, he is responsible for the direction of the “KlangHelden” youth choir, which is also used in the main program. At the beginning of the 2019/2020 season, the management of the youth choir was placed in new hands.

In 2015 he was awarded the title of "Kapellmeister". At the beginning of the 17/18 season, his contract at the Oldenburg State Theater was extended until the end of the 2021/22 season.

Sound carrier

• LP "Madrigals of the Renaissance" (1987)
• CD "Handel: Messiah" (1992)
• CD "Messa di Gloria" (1993)
• CD "French Impressions" (1994)
• CD "Mendelssohn: Elias" (1994)
• CD "Mediterranean Impressions" (1995)
• CD "Bach: Mass in B minor" (1996)
• CD "Brahms: Requiem / Bruckner: Mass e-minor" (1997)
• CD "Bach: Johannespassion" (2001)
• CD “Dvorak: 9th Symphony” (2011) MDG
• CD "Rutter: The Piper of Hamelin" (2012) MDG
• CD "Rheinberger: The Magic Word" (2014) Oldenburgisches Staatstheater
• DVD "Knab: Das Lebenslicht" (2007) Duisburg Philharmonic

Prizes and awards

• 2005 Music Education Prize of the City of Duisburg / Köhler-Osbahr Foundation
• 2006/2007 music theater production award from KOS
• 2009 Echo Klassik for the best German-language education program
• 2011 Echo Klassik in the category classical music for children for the CD “Come! We're going to America "
• 2011 “Recommended by the Association of German Music Schools” of the media award “LEOPOLD - Good Music for Children” for the CD “Come! We're going to America "

Web links

• Official website of Thomas Honickel

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Award-winning educators. Köhler-Osbahr-Stiftung, accessed on March 13, 2017 . 
2. ↑ High distinction for German cultural orchestras and the SWR vocal ensemble. (No longer available online.) Website of the Deutsche Orchestervereinigung , July 28, 2011, archived from the original on March 13, 2017 ; accessed on March 13, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ LEOPOLD 2011 - LEOPOLD media award. Association of German Music Schools , accessed on March 13, 2017 .