Christoph Poppen (born 9 March 1956) is a German conductor, violinist and academic teacher.

Career

Poppen was born in

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

. As a violinist, he was awarded first prize in the Kocian Violin Competition age 14. He studied the violin with Kurt Schäffer at the

Robert Schumann Hochschule The Robert Schumann Hochschule (Robert Schumann University of Music and Media) is a school for music studies at the university level located in Düsseldorf. The University has a student body of some 850 coming from over 40 countries. Forty-seven f ...

, later with Oskar Schumsky,

Nathan Milstein Nathan Mironovich Milstein ( – December 21, 1992) was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist. Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and ...

, and Joseph Gingold.Background Information
ECM 2001 In 1978, Poppen founded the

Cherubini Quartet The Cherubini Quartet (German: ''Cherubini-Quartett'') was a German string quartet from Düsseldorf, founded in 1978. It is named after the Italian composer Luigi Cherubini, who wrote six string quartets. The Cherubini Quartet has won internation ...

, winning in 1981 at the international string quartet competition in Evian. He was the conductor of the chamber orchestra Detmolder Kammerorchester from 1989 to 1995. He then succeeded Hans Stadlmair as the conductor and artistic director of the

Münchener Kammerorchester The Munich Chamber Orchestra (german: Münchener Kammerorchester, links=no, italic=no, or MKO) is a German chamber orchestra based in Munich. Its primary concert venue is the Prinzregententheater, Munich. The MKO also gives concerts in Munich at ...

. In collaboration with ECM he recorded with the orchestra contemporary music of composers such as

Karl Amadeus Hartmann Karl Amadeus Hartmann (2 August 1905 – 5 December 1963) was a German composer. Sometimes described as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century, he is now largely overlooked, particularly in English-speaking countries. Life Born in ...

Tigran Mansurian Tigran Yeghiayi Mansurian ( hy, Տիգրան Եղիայի Մանսուրյան; born 27 January 1939) is a leading Armenian composer of classical music and film scores, People's Artist of the Armenian SSR (1990), and Honored Art Worker of the Arm ...

Anton Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stea ...

, Sofia Gubaidulina,

Giacinto Scelsi Giacinto Francesco Maria Scelsi (; 8 January 1905 – 9 August 1988, sometimes cited as 8 August 1988) was an Italian composer who also wrote surrealist poetry in French. He is best known for having composed music based around only one pitch, ...

Valentin Silvestrov Valentyn Vasylyovych Sylvestrov ( uk, Валенти́н Васи́льович Сильве́стров; born 30 September 1937) is a Ukrainian composer and pianist, who plays and writes contemporary classical music. Biography Valentyn Vasylyo ...

and

Barry Guy Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London) is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras ...

. As a violinist, he recorded in 2000 works of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

with the

Hilliard Ensemble The Hilliard Ensemble was a British male vocal quartet originally devoted to the performance of early music. The group was named after the Elizabethan miniaturist painter Nicholas Hilliard. Founded in 1974, the group disbanded in 2014. Althoug ...

. The title ''Morimur'' (We shall die) stands for a juxtaposition of Bach's Partita for Violin No. 2, which is related to Easter according to scholar Helga Thoene, and interspersed

chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the t ...

s, some from his

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

s and Passions. The Partita's final Ciaconna is performed twice, once with the chorale which Bach may have had in mind, along with the violin music. The recording was described as

... one of those increasingly rare things – a moving and intelligently programmed disc that is effective from beginning to end.''

From 2006 Poppen has been the conductor of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, which was, together with the Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern, named

Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern (German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern) is a German radio orchestra. Its administrative headquarters is in Saarbrücken, at the ''Funkhaus Halberg''. The or ...

in 2007. In 2007 he conducted in the

Herkulessaal The Residenz (, ''Residence'') in central Munich is the former royal palace of the Wittelsbach monarchs of Bavaria. The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany and is today open to visitors for its architecture, room decorations, and displ ...

the premiere of

Wilhelm Killmayer Wilhelm Killmayer (21 August 1927 – 20 August 2017) was a German composer of classical music, a conductor and an academic teacher of composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München from 1973 to 1992. He composed symphonies and s ...

's ''Dithyramben'' for orchestra with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Poppen was the artistic director of the

ARD International Music Competition The ARD International Music Competition (german: link=no, Internationaler Musikwettbewerb der ARD) is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is organised by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and held once a year in Munich. Si ...

from 2000 to 2005.Christoph Poppen – Professor für Violine und Kammermusik

Hochschule für Musik und Theater München The University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater München), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is ...

2005 He was also

Hong Kong Sinfonietta The Hong Kong Sinfonietta (Chinese: ) is a professional symphony orchestra based in Hong Kong. It was established in 1990 by a group of local music graduates. It has always aimed at promoting classical music to the public. The orchestra was reorga ...

's Principal Guest Conductor starting from 2015. and will be their music director starting from April 2023 (succeeding

Yip Wing-sie Yip Wing-sie (; born 1960 in Guangzhou, China) is a Hong Kong musician. A highly respected and influential figure in Asia's orchestral music scene, Yip Wing-sie has been the Music Director of Hong Kong Sinfonietta since 2002. Positions she has ...

Teaching

In 1988 Poppen was appointed professor of violin and chamber music at the

Hochschule für Musik Detmold The Hochschule für Musik Detmold is a university-level music school situated in Detmold, Germany. Academics The Hochschule offers performance degrees in composition, all orchestral instruments, piano, voice, opera, art-song, conducting, as we ...

. He taught at the

Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German language, German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions ...

in Berlin from 1995 and was its director from 1996 to 2000. He has been professor for violin and chamber music at the

since 2003. In 2012–13 Poppen taught at the DO School in Hamburg as part of a Fellowship program for young social entrepreneurs. He worked with the Fellows to produce a multicultural concert involving local youth groups, and currently remains involved with the program in role of an advisor.

Awards

*2002

Prize of the Christoph and Stephan Kaske Foundation The Prize of the Christoph and Stephan Kaske Foundation () is an annual award for promotion of new music. It was founded in 1988 by Karlheinz and Christiane Kaske in memory of their sons Christoph and Stephan. has its legal seat in Munich. The ai ...

, with the

*2010

References

External links

*
Christoph Poppen
Deutsche Radiophilharmonie

bach-cantatas.com

arte.tv 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Poppen, Christoph German classical violinists Male classical violinists German male violinists German male conductors (music) Academic staff of the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich ECM Records artists 1956 births Living people People from Münster Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Detmold 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century German male musicians Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin es:Christoph Poppen#top