Howard Arman (born 1954 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

) is an English choral conductor and opera director. He won the

Handel Prize The Handel Prize (german: Händel-Preis) is an annual award, instituted in 1956, which is presented by the city of Halle, in Germany, in honour of the celebrated Baroque composer George Frideric Handel. It is awarded, "for exceptional artistic, ...

of the

Handel Festival, Halle The Handel Festival (in German: Händel-Festspiele) in Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt, is an international music festival concentrating on the music of George Frideric Handel in the composer's birthplace. It was founded in 1922 and it grew into ...

, in 1996, shaped the festival's orchestra and conducted operas of

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

. He is a conductor of the Theater and Philharmonie Thüringen, also the Luzerner Theater. Since 2017 he is the Director of the Bayerische Rundfunk Chor.

Career

Howard Arman studied at the

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

in London. He first worked with leading British ensembles, but moved to Austria and Germany in 1981.Howard Arman (Conductor)
bach-cantatas.com Arman has conducted (among others) the radio choirs of the

Norddeutscher Rundfunk Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, M ...

, the

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 ...

, the

Österreichischer Rundfunk ('Austrian Broadcasting Corporation'; ORF) is an Austrian national public broadcaster. Funded from a combination of television licence fee revenue and limited on-air advertising, ORF is the dominant player in the Austrian broadcast media. Aus ...

and the

RIAS Kammerchor The RIAS Kammerchor (RIAS Chamber Choir) is a German choir based in Berlin, Germany. It receives support from the Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH Berlin ("Berlin Radio Orchestra and Choirs"), a limited-liability company owned by the public bro ...

. From 1983 to 2000 he was the leader of the Salzburger Bach-Chor and since 1998 he has been director and artistic leader of the

MDR Rundfunkchor MDR Rundfunkchor is the radio choir of the German broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), based in Leipzig, Saxony. Dating back to 1924, the choir became the radio choir of a predecessor of the MDR in 1946, then called Kammerchor des Senders L ...

, the choir of 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 ...

(MDR). He is general music director of Theater and Philharmonie Thüringen for the 2010/2011 season and musical director of the

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

theatre for three years from the 2011/12 season onwards. Since 2010/11 he has been the musical leader of the

Luzerner Sinfonieorchester The Lucerne Symphony Orchestra (german: Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, links=no) is a Swiss orchestra based in Lucerne. The Luzerner SInfonieorchester is the orchestra-in-residence of the renowned Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre (KKL Luzern). I ...

(LSO), with James Gaffigan as the LSO's conductor. In 1984 he prepared the

Tölzer Knabenchor The Tölzer Knabenchor (Tölz Boys' Choir) is a German boys' choir named after the Upper Bavarian city of Bad Tölz and since 1971 based in Munich. The choir is ranked among the most versatile and sought-after boys' choirs in the world. Histor ...

for a recording of Bach's ''

Mass in B minor The Mass in B minor (), BWV 232, is an extended setting of the Mass ordinary by Johann Sebastian Bach. The composition was completed in 1749, the year before the composer's death, and was to a large extent based on earlier work, such as a Sanctu ...

'' with

Andrew Parrott Andrew Parrott (born 10 March 1947) is a British conductor, perhaps best known for his pioneering "historically informed performances" of pre-classical music. He conducts a wide range of repertoire, including contemporary music. He conducted th ...

and the

Taverner Consort and Players The Taverner Choir, Consort and Players is a British music ensemble which specialises in the performance of Early and Baroque music. The ensemble is made up of a Baroque orchestra (the Players), a vocal consort (the Consort) and a Choir. Performer ...

Starting in 1993 he shaped the Händel-Festspielorchester, the orchestra of the Handel Festival, on

period instruments In the historically informed performance movement, musicians perform classical music using restored or replicated versions of the instruments for which it was originally written. Often performances by such musicians are said to be "on authentic ...

, which earned him the Festival's Handel Prize of 1996.Winners of the Handel Prize
/ref> He conducted Handel's opera ''

Tolomeo ''Tolomeo, re d'Egitto'' ("Ptolemy, King of Egypt", HWV 25) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel to an Italian text by Nicola Francesco Haym, adapted from Carlo Sigismondo Capece's ''Tolomeo et Alessandro''. It was Handel ...

'' in 1996 at the festival, probably the first production and recording of the work with period instruments. In 2000 he recorded Rachmaninoff's ''

All-Night Vigil The All-night vigil is a service of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches consisting of an aggregation of the canonical hours of Compline (in Greek usage only), Vespers (or, on a few occasions, Great Compline), Matins, and the First H ...

'' with the MDR-Rundfunkchor. In 2005 Arman conducted Purcell's ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was co ...

'' at the Luzerner Theater. In 2006 Arman conducted Handel's opera ''

Admeto ' ("Admetus, King of Thessaly", HWV 22) is a three-act opera written for the Royal Academy of Music with music composed by George Frideric Handel to an Italian-language libretto prepared by Nicola Francesco Haym. The story is partly based on Eur ...

'' at the Handel Festival, directed by

Axel Köhler Axel Köhler (born 1959 in Schwarzenberg, Saxony, East Germany) is a German countertenor and opera director. In 1994, he won the Handel Prize. Since 2009, he has been Artistic Director of the Halle Opera House. Early life Axel Köhler studied v ...

and recorded. In 2009 he recorded in the Marktkirche in Halle, the church where Handel was baptized, the opening concert of the ''Handel Special Day'', a collaboration of 40 broadcasters. Four choirs and two orchestras reconstructed a memorial concert, held for the composer in 1784 in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

, including ''Zadok the Priest'' (one of Handel's

Coronation Anthems A coronation anthem is a piece of choral music written to accompany the coronation of a monarch. Many composers have written coronation anthems. However, the best known were composed by George Frideric Handel for the coronation of the British ...

). In 2010 Arman conducted Mozart's ''

Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'' at the Luzerner Theater, directed by David Herrmann. Arman recorded

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber ( bapt. 12 August 1644, Stráž pod Ralskem – 3 May 1704, Salzburg) was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and violinist. Biber worked in Graz and Kroměříž before he illegally left his employer, Prince-Bishop Karl L ...

's ''Marienvesper 1693'' (Vesperae longiores ac breviores (1693), a setting of the

Vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern), Lutheranism, Lutheran, and Anglican ...

), with the Salzburger Bach-Chor.Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber – Marienvesper 1693
www.allaboutjazz.com Arman has been a professor at the

Mozarteum Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Moz ...

in Salzburg. Since 2017 he is the Director of the Bayerische Rundfunk Chor.

selected Recordings

* Howard Arman: Metamorphosen – MDR-Rundfunkchor (

MDR Klassik MDR Klassik is a German public radio station owned and operated by the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR; ''Central German Broadcasting'') is the public broadcaster for the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-A ...

, 2013) *

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 ...

: Motetten – Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks und die

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (Academy for Early Music Berlin, short name: Akamus) is a German chamber orchestra founded in East Berlin in 1982. Each year Akamus gives approximately 100 concerts, ranging from small chamber works to large-scale s ...

(BR-Klassik, 2018) *

: Marienvesper – Salzburger Barockensemble und der Salzburger Bachchor ( Ars Musici, 1996) *

Thomas Buchholz Thomas Walter Buchholz (born 27 August 1961) is a German composer and music educator. Life Buchholz was born in 1961 in Eisenach as the son of the oratorio singer and vocal pedagogue Kurt Wichmann and the concert pianist and music teacher Jutta ...

: Kammersinfonie VIII – Händelfestspielorchester Halle (Thorofon Classics, 1998) *

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to Mary, which portrays her suffering as Jesus Christ's mother during his crucifixion. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Sabatier, Paul ''Life o ...

– Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks (BR-Klassik, 2019) *

Carl Heinrich Graun Carl Heinrich Graun (7 May 1704 – 8 August 1759) was a German composer and tenor. Along with Johann Adolph Hasse, he is considered to be the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time. Biography Graun was born in Wahrenbrüc ...

Der Tod Jesu ''Der Tod Jesu'' (''The Death of Jesus'') is an oratorio libretto by Karl Wilhelm Ramler. In its setting by Carl Heinrich Graun in 1755, it was the most often performed Passion of the 18th century in Germany. The poem is part of the '' Empfind ...

–

und das

MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra The MDR-Sinfonieorchester (in English, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra) is a German radio orchestra based in Leipzig. It is the radio orchestra of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, the public broadcaster for the German states of Thuringia, Saxony a ...

(MDR Edition, 2004) *

Georg Friedrich Händel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training ...

Occasional Oratorio ''An Occasional Oratorio'' ( HWV 62) is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel, based upon a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton after the poetry of John Milton and Edmund Spenser. The work was written in the midst of the Jacobite rising of 1745–1746 ...

– Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks und die

(

BR-Klassik BR Klassik is a Munich-based public radio station and classical record label owned and operated by Bayerischer Rundfunk Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR; "Bavarian Broadcasting") is a public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, ...

, 2017) *

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

: Psalmen – Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks und das

Munich Radio Orchestra The Munich Radio Orchestra (German: ''Münchner Rundfunkorchester'') is a German symphony broadcast orchestra based in Munich. It is one of the two orchestras affiliated with the Bavarian Radio (Bayerischer Rundfunk), the other being the Bavarian ...

(BR-Klassik, 2017) *

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

: Große Messe in c-Moll – Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks und das

(BR-Klassik, 2018) *

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, ...

– Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks und das

(BR-Klassik, 2020) *

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

: Vesper zum Fest Christi Himmelfahrt – Schütz-Akademie (Capriccio, 1996) *

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

: Vespers –

(Berlin Classics, 2002) *

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

– Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks und das

(Sony Classical, 2018) *

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...

: Musikalische Exequien – Schütz-Akademie (Berlin Classics, 2005) *

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

: Chorwerke –

(MDR Edition, 2005) *

Othmar Schoeck Othmar Schoeck (1 September 1886 – 8 March 1957) was a Swiss Romantic classical composer, opera composer, musician, and conductor. He was known mainly for his considerable output of art songs and song cycles, though he also wrote a number of ...

: Chorwerke –

(

Claves Records Claves Records is a Swiss classical record label, which was founded in 1968 by Marguerite Dütschler-Hüber (1931–2006) in Thun. History Marguerite Dütschler-Hüber founded Claves with business partner Ursula Pfaehler when her piano teacher ...

, 2007)

References

External links

Howard Arman
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Arman, Howard Artists from London 1954 births Living people British opera directors English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) Alumni of Trinity College of Music English directors Handel Prize winners 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians