Günter Jena (born 1933) is a German choral conductor and musicologist. He was the director of church music at St. Michaelis in Hamburg from 1973 to 1997. He founded the festival Bach-Tage Hamburg, and provided music for ballet performances of choreographer

John Neumeier John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He has been the director and chief choreographer of Hamburg Ballet since 1973. Five years later he founded the Hamburg Ballet School, which also inc ...

at the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''General ...

, including Bach's ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...

''.

Career

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 ...

, Jena attended the

Thomasschule St. Thomas School, Leipzig (german: Thomasschule zu Leipzig; la, Schola Thomana Lipsiensis) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools ...

there, and then studied musicology. He studied psychology and philosophy in Berlin, and conducting and

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

at the

Musikhochschule 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 t ...

with Karl Richter, becoming his assistant. Jena worked as the church musician at in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

. In 1969 he founded the festival . From 1973 he was the church musician at

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

's Hauptkirche St. Michaelis, where he regularly conducted performances of works by

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 ...

, music from the classical period and the

romantic period Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

. He founded the festival Bach-Tage Hamburg, and was appointed

Kirchenmusikdirektor Kirchenmusikdirektor (KMD, director of church music) is a German title for professional church musicians (' who have responsibility for not only a parish but a larger region, in both Protestant and Catholic church music. The title is also sometimes ...

(director of church music) for the region. Jena prepared choir and orchestra for performances by the choreographer

at the

Hamburgische Staatsoper The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Genera ...

, including Bach's ''

'' in 1981 and Mozart's

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

. Jena conducted the performances for the premieres, and also a revival of the ''St Matthew Passion'' in 2013, now in his church. The 200th performance of the production was given on

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

2017. Jena prepared and conducted the

NDR Chor The NDR Chor (North German Radio Choir) is the choir of the German broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), based in Hamburg. It was founded in 1946, with Max Thurn as the first director of then 55 singers. The group has participated in premieres ...

for a recording of the complete

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

works by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

from 1981. It includes works such as ''Fünf Gesänge'', Op. 104. Jena retired in 1997. He published books about the musicological and theological background of Bach's ''

Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance on one of t ...

'', ''

The Art of Fugue ''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (german: Die Kunst der Fuge, links=no), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of Fug ...

'' and ''St Matthew Passion''. He is a member of the

Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg The Freie Akademie der Künste in Hamburg e.V. is a Non-profit organization, not-for-profit association of artists, founded in 1950 by the organ-builder and writer Hans Henny Jahnn. It now includes architecture, visual arts, performing arts, lit ...

Awards

Jena was awarded the Würzburg Cultural Prize in 1970. The appointed him an

honorary professor Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...

in 1986 and awarded him the music prize

Johannes Brahms Medal The Johannes Brahms Medal (german: Johannes-Brahms-Medaille, links=no) of Hamburg is a music award established in 1928, named after the composer Johannes Brahms who was born in Hamburg. The medal is given irregularly by the to artists who contri ...

in 1987.

Publications

Publications by Jena are held by the German National Library:
"Das gehet meiner Seele nah". Die Matthäuspassion von Johann Sebastian Bach
Piper Verlag 1993, Herder Verlag, Freiburg 1999
"Brich an, o schönes Morgenlicht". Das Weihnachtsoratorium von Johann Sebastian Bach
1997
Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen
2000

Selected recordings

Recordings by Jena are held by the German National Library: *''Johannes Brahms, Chorwerke''.

. *''Johann Sebastian Bach, Weihnachtsoratorium''. Choir and orchestra of St. Michaelis,

Lynne Dawson Lynne Dawson (born 3 June 1953) is an English soprano. She came to great prominence through her performance as a soloist in ''Libera me'' from Requiem (Verdi), Verdi's Requiem with the BBC Singers at Princess Diana's Funeral of Diana, Princess o ...

Marjana Lipovšek Marjana Lipovšek (born 3 December 1946) is a Slovenian opera and concert singer (mezzo-soprano). The daughter of composer Marijan Lipovšek, she was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. She retired in 2017 and now lives in her family house in Ljubljana. ...

Peter Schreier Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. Schreier was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conduct ...

, Andreas Schmidt. 1997

References

External links

* *
Günter Jena
(in German) weihnachtsoratorium-oper.de * *

kellydeanhansen.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Jena, Gunter German male conductors (music) German choral conductors 1933 births Living people Musicians from Leipzig University of Music and Performing Arts Munich alumni University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians Kirchenmusikdirektor