Bert Noglik (born 20 May 1948) is a German

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

journalist and

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

Life

Born in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, Noglik studied cultural studies at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

and received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

on environmental design in urban space in 1974. He has been a freelance publicist since 1977. From 1976 to 1979, he was the first German correspondent of the Polish magazine ''Jazz Forum'' and edited its German edition in Warsaw in 1980/1. Noglik has written numerous articles for specialist journals, anthologies, symposia as well as radio broadcasts for various radio stations such as the

Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR; ''Central German Broadcasting'') is the public broadcaster for the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. Established in January 1991, its headquarters are in Leipzig, with regional studio ...

and the

Deutschlandfunk Deutschlandfunk (DLF, ''Broadcast Germany'') is a public-broadcasting radio station in Germany, concentrating on news and current affairs. It is one of the four national radio channels produced by Deutschlandradio. History Broadcasting in the ...

. Since the beginning of the nineties, he has been a jazz judge at the

Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik The Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik ("German Record Critics' Award") was established in Germany in 1963 by publisher Richard Kaselowsky with the aim of setting the "most rigorous standards for supreme achievement and quality" in the field ...

. From 1992 to 2007, Noglik was artistic director of the

Leipziger Jazztage Leipziger Jazztage is a jazz festival in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member st ...

. In this function, he developed musical-scenic projects (for example, ''Survival Songs'' with David Moss and

Jeanne Lee Jeanne Lee (January 29, 1939 – October 25, 2000) was an American jazz singer, poet and composer. Best known for a wide range of vocal styles she mastered, Lee collaborated with numerous distinguished composers and performers who included Gunter ...

, ''Bach Now'' with

Joachim Kühn Joachim Kurt Kühn (born 15 March 1944) is a German jazz pianist. Biography He was born in Leipzig, Germany. Kühn was a musical prodigy and made his debut as a concert pianist, having studied classical piano and composition, with Arthur Schmid ...

and the

Thomanerchor The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called ''Thomaner'', reside in a boarding scho ...

). Noglik is an internationally sought-after expert on contemporary jazz and improvised music for symposia and competitions. Since 1999, he has organised the ''Bach reflections in Jazz'' at the Leipzig Bach Festival. For his coverage of Polish jazz since the 1970s and his efforts to promote artistic exchange as director of the ''Leipziger Jazztage'', dedicated solely to Poland in 2005, Noglik received the Silver Cross of Merit of the Republic of Poland on 10 September 2008. In 2009, he initiated the festival series in Berlin ''Sounds no walls''. From 2012 until 2014, Noglik was

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of the

JazzFest Berlin JazzFest Berlin (also known as the Berlin Jazz Festival) is a jazz festival in Berlin, Germany. Originally called the "Berliner Jazztage" (''Berlin Jazz Days''), it was founded in 1964 in West Berlin by the Berliner Festspiele. Venues included B ...

Publications

* Bert Noglik, Heinz-Jürgen Lindner: ''Jazz im Gespräch.'' Verlag Neue Musik, Berlin 1978, 2nd edition 1979, Conversations with 12 jazz musicians of the GDR (with biographical data). * Bert Noglik: ''Jazzwerkstatt International.'' Verlag Neue Musik 1981, Rowohlt Taschenbuch, Reinbek 1983, . * Bert Noglik: ''Klangspuren: Wege improvisierter Musik.'' Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt 1992, . * Bert Noglik: ''Peitz und der Feuerschlucker vom Centre Pompidou'', , in (ed.): ''Woodstock am Karpfenteich: Die Jazzwerkstatt Peitz.'' Verlag jazzwerkstatt,

Federal Agency for Civic Education The Federal Agency for Civic Education (FACE, german: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (''bpb'')) is a German federal government agency responsible for promoting civic education. It is subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, B ...

, Bonn 2011, 208 S., Ill. 1 CD-ROM, . * :
Im Gespräch: Bert Noglik. Wie findet man den richtigen Jazz, Herr Noglik?
' In the '' FAZ'', 20 October 2012, Anfang.

Directing work

* 1996: ''Survival Songs'' – Scenic opera for five voices and virtual orchestra with Sussan Deihim, Jeanne Lee,

Sainkho Namtchylak Sainkho Namtchylak ( tyv, Сайын-Хөө Намчылак, russian: Сайнхо Намчылак, born 1957) is a singer originally from Tuva, an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation just north of Mongolia. She is known for her Tuvan ...

Phil Minton Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/ free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's ...

Conny Bauer Konrad "Conny" Bauer (born 4 July 1943) is a German free jazz trombonist. He is the brother of the trombonist Johannes Bauer. As a student at senior high school in Sonneberg between 1957 and 1961, he was enthusiastic about modern music and danc ...

Gunter Hampel Gunter Hampel (born 31 August 1937) is a German jazz vibraphonist, clarinettist, saxophonist, flautist, pianist, and composer. He became dedicated to free jazz in the 1960s, developing a record label (Birth Records) and working with Jeanne Lee, ...

, Frank Schulte and

Yoshihide Otomo is a Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist. He mainly plays guitar, turntables, and electronics. He first came to international prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the experimental rock group Ground Zero, and has since worked in ...

. Konzeption und Regie: Bert Noglik and David Moss.

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

d in the

Opernhaus Leipzig The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany. History Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Sings ...

, Dresden and in the

Berliner Ensemble The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langhoff ...

. * 1998: ''Capetown Traveller'' – Music opera with

Abdullah Ibrahim Abdullah Ibrahim (born Adolph Johannes Brand on 9 October 1934 and formerly known as Dollar Brand) is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cap ...

and Ensemble, Frank Schulte,

Lauren Newton Lauren Amber Newton (born 16 November 1952) is an avant-garde jazz and Contemporary classical music, contemporary classical singer and founding member of the Vienna Art Orchestra. Biography Newton earned a degree in music at the University of O ...

und Timbre. Direction: Bert Noglik. Premiere in the Opernhaus Leipzig. * 2008: ''JazzJandl. Der Dichter Ernst Jandl und seine unheimliche Liebe zum Jazz.'' – Radio play commissioned by the

. With Frank Schulte (field recording and electronic composition) and

, voice. Directed by Bert Noglik. Broadcast 2009 on

Bayerischer Rundfunk Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR; "Bavarian Broadcasting") is a public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD consortium of public broadcas ...

(BR),

Südwestrundfunk Südwestrundfunk (SWR; ''Southwest Broadcasting'') is a regional public broadcasting corporation serving the southwest of Germany , specifically the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The corporation has main offices ...

(SWR),

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...

(WDR).Content summary from
JazzJandl.
' In ''

'', 8 March 2009. ;Interviews *
"Ekstase ist alles."
' In the ''

Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, s ...

'', 31 October 2012. *
Netzwerke sinnlicher Erfahrung.
' In

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

, October 2012.

References

External links

*
Noglik-Porträt
in MDR Figaro, 4 November 2010. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Noglik, Bert German journalists German music critics 20th-century German journalists Recipients of the Silver Cross of Merit (Poland) Jazz writers 1948 births Living people Musicians from Leipzig