Volker Mattern

Volker Mattern (born August 3, 1956 in Saarbrücken ) is a German director , dramaturge and author.

Life

Mattern studied musicology , philosophy , sociology and art history as well as trumpet at the University of Saarbrücken and Heidelberg . He was a scholarship holder of the German Mozart Society and the Richard Wagner Association . During his studies he gained his first theater experience as a dramaturgy and assistant director at the Nationaltheater Mannheim . He worked there for Harry Kupfer , Peter Ebert and Eberhard Streul, among others . He also worked for the State University of Music Heidelberg-Mannheim , as an author for Piper's Encyclopedia of Music Theater and for the SDR Studio Heidelberg . He researched Daniel Francois Esprit Auber in Paris as part of a project at Heidelberg University .

After receiving his doctorate with Ludwig Finscher , Mattern worked from 1985 to 1987 as an opera dramaturge at the Detmold State Theater and in the 1987/88 season at the Oldenburg State Theater , where he also held the position of opera director. From 1988 to 1996 he worked as artistic director of the South Westphalia Philharmonic Orchestra - North Rhine-Westphalia State Orchestra. He was also the manager of Concerto Köln from 1994 to 1996 and also took over the management of this ensemble from 1996 to 1998. Under his aegis, the participation in opera productions (including regularly at the State Opera Unter den Linden Berlin , Salzburg Festival , Dresden Music Festival and Schwetzingen Festival ) developed into a focus of activity of this orchestra.

From 1998 to 2000, Mattern took over the management of the cultural department of the International Cultural Foundation in Munich and in this function was also the overall artistic director of the Toujours Mozart Festival in Salzburg (residence) and Prague (music academy) in 1999 and 2000 . From 2000 to 2005 he was artistic director of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the cities of Solingen and Remscheid. From 2005 to 2008 Mattern returned to the theater as Artistic Director of the Musical Comedy (second venue of the Leipzig Opera ).

From 2008 to 2014 he headed Bayer AG's own theater and concert hall in Leverkusen . He was the successor to Nikolas Kerkenrath and the sixth head of the cultural department that had existed since 1907. Under his leadership, the house - previously designed as a pure guest performance - attracted attention with its own and co-productions, including numerous world premieres and opera excavations. The series “Operas from the archives of the world”, initiated by Mattern, was dedicated to works from the 18th century, which were broadcast as world premiere recordings or published as CD in cooperation with WDR and Sony (including Josef Mysliveček : Medonte , Pasquale Anfossi : La finta giardiniera , Christoph Willibald Gluck : La clemenza di Tito ). He also tied the L'arte del mondo ensemble to the house and cooperated with the Deutsche Oper Berlin , the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin and Martin Gropius Bau as part of a BErlin project by Bayer AG . However, Mattern was not without controversy. A few unpopular decisions arose under his leadership, such as the renaming of the Erholungshaus to Bayer-Kulturhaus , the orientation of cultural work towards Berlin and the banishment of the carnival from the Kulturhaus. At the end of 2014 he unexpectedly announced his resignation and asked for early retirement. He left office on December 31st. He was succeeded by Thomas Helfrich .

He volunteered as a board member of the Bergische Gesellschaft für Neue Musik Wuppertal and as a member of the tariff commission of the German Stage Association .

Teaching assignments

Mattern had lectureships for opera dramaturgy at the Northwest German Music Academy Detmold , the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg , the University of Siegen and in the newly founded music theater studies course at the University of Bayreuth . From 2005 to 2007 he taught cultural management in the master’s degree in theater and orchestra management at the Hessian Theater Academy / University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt am Main and in 2011 at the Center for International Arts Management in Cologne.

Publications

• The drama giocoso: la finta giardiniera; a comparison of the settings by Pasquale Anfossi and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . Laaber: Laaber Verlag 1989. ISBN 3-89007-111-2 (dissertation)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Change in the Bayer cultural department: Dr. Volker Mattern follows Nikolas Kerkenrath Group continues commitment to cultural work. In: Leverkusen.com. Bayer AG , May 30, 2008, accessed November 21, 2015 . 
2. ^ ^{A b} Stefan Drees: Cultural work as a social responsibility. Klassik.com , 01/2009, accessed on November 21, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Thorsten Keller: Culture is his passion. (No longer available online.) Forum - The weekly magazine, formerly in the original ; accessed on November 21, 2015 .  ( 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.    
4. ^ Bayer cultural department: Controversial boss Volker Mattern disembarks. Leverkusener Anzeiger , December 9, 2014, accessed on November 21, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Bayer Culture will be continued in 2015 under new management. In: Leverkusen.de. Bayer AG , December 9, 2014, accessed November 21, 2015 . 
6. ↑ Thomas Helfrich takes over the management of Bayer's cultural department. Rheinische Post , May 6, 2015, accessed on November 21, 2015 .