The Cologne University of Music ( is a

music college A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

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 state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Founded in 1850, it is Europe's largest academy of music.

History

The academy was founded by

Ferdinand Hiller Ferdinand (von) Hiller (24 October 1811 – 11 May 1885) was a German composer, Conductor (music), conductor, pianist, writer and music director. Biography Ferdinand Hiller was born to a wealthy Jewish family in Frankfurt am Main, where his fat ...

in 1850 as ''Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln''. In 1895 German violinist Willy Hess was appointed as principal professor of violin at the Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln. In 1925 it became known as the ''Staatliche Hochschule für Musik'' having introduced new study and exam regulations. In 1972 it incorporated previously independent conservatories in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

and

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

, forming the ''Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Rheinland'' which in 1987 changed its name to ''Hochschule für Musik Köln'' or the Cologne University of Music.

Alumni

Theo Altmeyer Theo Altmeyer (16 March 1931 – 28 July 2007) was a German classical tenor. Although he was a successful opera singer, he is chiefly remembered for his work as an oratorio soloist. He possessed a rich and lyrical voice that he employed with grea ...

Jürg Baur Jürg Baur (11 November 1918 – 31 January 2010) was a German composer whose works include ''Incontri and Mutazioni.'' Baur studied at the Cologne University of Music and taught there in his later years. Baur was also awarded the Federal Cro ...

Heribert Beissel Heribert Beissel (27 March 1933 – 11 June 2021) was a German conductor. While based in Bonn for decades, as conductor at the Bonn Opera and as founder and conductor of the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, he also held leading positions in Halle ...

* Elena Braslavsky * Jan Chiapusso *

Michael Denhoff Michael Denhoff (born 25 April 1955 in Ahaus) is a German composer and cellist. Life Denhoff has lived and worked in Bonn since 1982. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, where his teachers included Günter Bialas and Hans We ...

* Allard de Ridder *

Sir Vivian Dunn Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Francis Vivian Dunn (24 December 1908 – 3 April 1995) was a British conductor who was Director of Music of the Portsmouth Division of the Royal Marines from 1931 to 1953 and Principal Director of Music of the Royal Mari ...

* Juan Carlos Echeverry Bernal *

Mojca Erdmann Mojca Erdmann (born 29 December 1975) is a German soprano who is particularly associated with the Mozart operas. She created the role of Ariadne in Rihm's ''Dionysos'' at the Salzburg Festival. Career Born in Hamburg, Erdmann sang in the chi ...

Henry Fairs Henry Fairs (born 1976) is an English organist. He is organist to the University of Birmingham and Head of Organ Studies at the Birmingham Conservatoire;. Since winning the Odense International Organ Competition, his concert career has taken hi ...

Hedwig Fassbender Hedwig Fassbender (born 23 October 1954) is a German operatic mezzo-soprano and academic voice teacher. She has appeared in leading roles at major European opera houses, including some soprano roles such as Wagner's Isolde and Sieglinde. Care ...

Achim Fiedler Achim Fiedler (born 1965) is a German conductor. Biography Born in Stuttgart in 1965, Achim Fiedler studied violin at the Hochschule für Musik in Köln, in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and conducting at the Musikhochsch ...

Christopher Fifield Christopher Fifield (born 1945) is an English conductor and classical music Music history, historian and musicologist based in London. From 1982 until 2022 music director of the Lambeth Orchestra, Fifield is known for his exploration of neglected ...

Johannes Fritsch Johannes Georg Fritsch (27 July 1941 – 29 April 2010) was a German composer. At the age of seven, Fritsch found a violin in the attic of his uncle's house in Bensheim-Auerbach, Germany, and began lessons with a village music teacher named Kna ...

Mechthild Georg Mechthild Georg is a German operatic mezzo-soprano, and a professor of voice at the Musikhochschule Köln. Career Georg studied Roman studies and history at the Cologne University, and music pedagogy at the Musikhochschule Köln. She then stud ...

Reinhard Goebel Reinhard Goebel (; born 31 July 1952 in Siegen, West Germany) is a German Conducting, conductor and baroque violin, violinist specialising in early music on Historically informed performance, authentic instruments and professor for historical perf ...

Georg Hajdu Georg Hajdu (born 21 June 1960) is a German composer of Hungarian descent. His work is dedicated to the combination of music, science and computer technology. He is noted for his opera ' and the network music performance environment Quintet.net ...

Liselotte Hammes Liselotte Hammes (born 1933) is a German operatic soprano and academic voice teacher. While based at the Cologne Opera, she performed internationally. One of her signature roles is Sophie in ''Der Rosenkavalier'' by Richard Strauss, which she perf ...

Anja Harteros Anja Harteros (born 23 July 1972) is a German soprano. Since winning the 1999 Cardiff Singer of the World competition she has been particularly associated with the Bavarian State Opera and enjoyed an international career. In her earlier career ...

York Höller York Höller (; born 11 January 1944) is a German composer and professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik Köln. Biography Höller was born in Leverkusen. Between 1963 and 1970 he studied at the Cologne Musikhochschule: composition with ...

* Engelbert Humperdinck *

Hedy Iracema-Brügelmann Hedy Iracema-Brügelmann (1879–1941) was a German operatic soprano of Brazilian birth. In 1916, she was awarded the Charlottenkreuz. Professional career Born Hedwig Hänsel in Porto Alegre, Iracema Brügelmann was the daughter of German pare ...

Johannes Kalitzke Johannes Kalitzke (born 12 February 1959) is a German composer and conductor. After studying in Cologne and at the IRCAM in Paris, he was chief conductor at the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen for several years, then led the ensemble musi ...

Volker David Kirchner Volker David Kirchner (25 June 1942 – 4 February 2020) was a German composer and violist. After studies of violin and composition at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory, the Hochschule für Musik Köln and the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, he w ...

Hans Knappertsbusch Hans Knappertsbusch (12 March 1888 – 25 October 1965) was a German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Wagner, Bruckner and Richard Strauss. Knappertsbusch followed the traditional route for an aspiring conductor in Ger ...

Akil Mark Koci Akil Mark Koci is a Kosovar Albanian composer and music writer. Education Koci was born in 1936 in Prizren, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (in today's Kosovo). There he graduated from the Josip Slavenski music school. He went on to study at the Saraj ...

Karlrobert Kreiten Karlrobert Kreiten (26 June 1916, Bonn, Rhine Province – 7 September 1943) was a German pianist, though holding Dutch citizenship his entire life due to his Dutch father. Biography He was regarded by Wilhelm Furtwängler and others to be one ...

Carl Lachmund Carl V. Lachmund (27 March 185320 February 1928) was an American classical pianist, teacher, conductor, composer, and diarist. He was a student of Franz Liszt for three years, and his detailed diaries of his time with Liszt provide an invaluable i ...

* Jin Sang Lee *

Thomas Lehn Thomas Lehn (born 1958 in Fröndenberg) is a German piano and synthesizer player active in free improvisation and contemporary music. Lehn has recorded with Marcus Schmickler, Keith Rowe, John Butcher, Phil Minton, Phil Durrant, Radu Malfatt ...

* Mesias Maiguashca *

Willem Mengelberg Joseph Wilhelm Mengelberg (28 March 1871 – 21 March 1951) was a Dutch conductor, famous for his performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Strauss with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest s ...

Karl Aagard Østvig Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austria ...

Luis Fernando Pérez Luis Fernando Pérez (Madrid, Spain; 1977) is a Spanish classical pianist. He first studied piano at Pozuelo de Alarcón conservatoire where he received top grades. In 1993 he entered the Reina Sofía School of Music where he studied with renown ...

Adolph Schellschmidt Adolph H. Schellschmidt (August 30, 1867 – March 18, 1946) was an American cellist and composer. He wrote, studied, taught and performed classical and chamber music. He was nicknamed "the dean of cellists." Early life and education Adolph Sch ...

Olga Scheps Olga Scheps (born 4 January 1986) is a German pianist, who currently resides in Cologne, Germany. Biography 1986–2001: Early life and career beginnings Scheps was born on 4 January 1986, in Moscow and came to Germany at the age of six. Infl ...

Steffen Schleiermacher Steffen Schleiermacher (born Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle, 3 May 1960) is a German composer, pianist, and conducting, conductor.Michael Schneider (flautist) Michael Schneider (born 10 August 1953) is a German flautist, recorder player, conductor and academic teacher. He is especially connected with later Baroque repertoire such as the works of Telemann and with early Classical repertoire such as the ...

* Johannes Schröder *

Wilhelm Schüchter Wilhelm Schüchter (15 December 1911 – 27 May 1974) was a German conductor. He was Generalmusikdirektor in Dortmund and left a legacy of opera recordings. Career Born in Bonn, Schüchter studied piano at the Hochschule für Musik Köln, co ...

Juan Maria Solare ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, ...

* Caroline Stein *

Markus Stenz Markus Stenz (born 28 February 1965, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Rhineland-Palatinate) is a German conductor. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik Köln with Volker Wangenhein and at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. Stenz has ...

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

Wolfgang Stockmeier Wolfgang Stockmeier (13 December 1931 – 11 December 2015) was a German composer, church musician, concert organist and academic. From 1962, he was professor of music theory, organ playing and organ improvisation at the Musikhochschule Köln, and ...

Zoran Dukic Zoran ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран) is a common South Slavic name, the masculine form of Zora, which means ''dawn, daybreak''. The name is especially common in Serbia, North Macedonia, Croatia and a little in Slovenia. Notable people with this given na ...

Chris Walden Chris Walden (born October 10, 1966 in Hamburg, West Germany) is a German composer, arranger, and conductor living in the U.S. He leads the Chris Walden Big Band, and was nominated seven times for a Grammy Award. He has written big band and or ...

Graham Waterhouse Graham Waterhouse (born 2 November 1962) is an English composer and cellist who specializes in chamber music. He has composed a cello concerto, ''Three Pieces for Solo Cello'' and ''Variations for Cello Solo'' for his own instrument, and string ...

Eberhard Werdin Eberhard Werdin (19 October 1911 in Spenge – 25 May 1991 in Weilheim in Oberbayern) was a German composer and writer on music. He studied in Hanover, Bielefeld and Cologne, and then became a schoolteacher. From 1955 to 1969 he was a lecturer a ...

* Soyoung Yoon *

Bernd Alois Zimmermann Bernd Alois Zimmermann (20 March 1918 – 10 August 1970) was a German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera ''Die Soldaten'', which is regarded as one of the most important German operas of the 20th century, after those of Berg. As a ...

Goran Krivokapić Goran Krivokapić ( cnr, Горан Кривокапић; born 7 May 1979) is a Montenegrin classical guitarist. Early years and education Due to the 1979 Montenegro earthquake, Krivokapić was born in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia. He ...

* Lili Wieruszowski *

Bruno Vlahek Bruno Vlahek (born 11 February 1986 in Zagreb) is a Croatian pianist and composer. Vlahek started his musical education at the age of nine in his hometown. Immediately recognized as a specially gifted child, he entered class of Vladimir Krpan a ...

Lecturers

Pierre-Laurent Aimard Pierre-Laurent Aimard (born 9 September 1957) is a French pianist. Biography Aimard was born in Lyon, where he entered the conservatory. Later he studied with Yvonne Loriod and with Maria Curcio. In 1973, he was awarded the chamber music priz ...

Zakhar Bron Zakhar Bron (russian: Заха́р Ну́химович Брон ; born 17 December 1947, in Oral, Kazakhstan) is a Russian violinist and violin pedagogue of Jewish, Polish and Romanian descent. His students have included Vadim Repin, Gwendoly ...

Marcus Creed Marcus Creed (April 19, 1951) is an English conductor. Born in Eastbourne, Sussex (South England), he was educated at Eastbourne Grammar School, King's College, Cambridge, Christ Church, Oxford, and Guildhall School in London. He moved to Ger ...

Konrad Junghänel Konrad Junghänel (born 27 February 1953) is a German lutenist and conductor in the field of historically informed performance, the founder and director of the vocal ensemble Cantus Cölln. Career Junghänel studied at the Hochschule für Musi ...

* Klesie Kelly *

Maria Kliegel Maria Kliegel (born 14 November 1952) is a German cellist. Professional career Kliegel was born in Dillenburg, Hesse. She studied under Janos Starker starting at the age of 19. She won first prize at the American College Competition, First Germ ...

Vassily Lobanov Vasily Pavlovich Lobanov also Vassily Lobanov (Васи́лий Па́влович Лоба́нов, born 2 January 1947) is a Russian composer and pianist. He has been a Duo-Partner of Sviatoslav Richter Biography Vasily Lobanov was born in Mo ...

* Florence Millet *

Jono Podmore Kumo is a British musician and composer, the pseudonym of Jono Podmore who was born in 1965. Biography Kumo came into existence in 1994 when composer, producer, engineer and arranger Jono Podmore began work at Watershed Studios, London and with ...

Edda Moser Edda Moser (born 27 October 1938) is a German operatic soprano. She was particularly well known for her interpretations of music by Mozart. Her 1973 recital LP ' received the Grand Prix du Disque. Life and career Moser was born in Berlin, th ...

* Christoph Prégardien *

Former lecturers

Hermann Abendroth Hermann Paul Maximilian Abendroth (19 January 1883 – 29 May 1956) was a German conductor. Early life Abendroth was born on 19 January 1883, at Frankfurt, the son of a bookseller. Several other members of the family were artists in diverse dis ...

András Adorján András Adorján (born András Jocha; 31 March 1950) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster (1973) and author. He adopted his mother's maiden name, Adorján, in 1968. Chess career In 1969–70, Adorján secured the title of European Junior Cham ...

Amadeus Quartet The Amadeus Quartet was a string quartet founded in 1947 and disbanded in 1987, having retained its founding members throughout its history. Noted for its smooth, sophisticated style, its seamless ensemble playing, and its sensitive interpretat ...

Erling Blöndal Bengtsson Erling Blöndal Bengtsson (March 8, 1932 – June 6, 2013) was a Danish cellist. Born in Copenhagen, Bengtsson gave his first public performance there in 1936, when he was four years old. He was admitted at the age of sixteen to the Curtis Insti ...

Walter Braunfels Walter Braunfels (; 19 December 1882 – 19 March 1954) was a German composer, pianist, and music educator. Life Walter Braunfels was born in Frankfurt. His first music teacher was his mother, the great-niece of the composer Louis Spohr. He c ...

Herbert Eimert Herbert Eimert (8 April 1897 – 15 December 1972) was a German music theorist, musicologist, journalist, music critic, editor, radio producer, and composer. Education Herbert Eimert was born in Bad Kreuznach. He studied music theory and compo ...

Maurits Frank Maurits Frank (29 July 1892 in Rotterdam – 3 March 1959 in Cologne) was a Dutch cellist and music educator. The student of Pablo Casals taught in Heidelberg and Neustadt/Palatinate before he moved to the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt in 1915. ...

* Clemens Ganz *

Vinko Globokar Vinko Globokar (born 7 July 1934) is a French-Slovenian avant-garde composer and trombonist. Globokar's music uses unconventional and extended techniques, places great emphasis on spontaneity and creativity, and often relies on improvisation. Hi ...

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as t ...

Willy Hess (violinist) Willy Hess (14 July 185917 February 1939) was a German violinist and violin teacher. Biography Willy Hess was born in Mannheim on 14 July 1859. He commenced the study of violin when only five years of age with his father, who was a pupil of Lu ...

Philipp Jarnach Philipp Jarnach (26 July 1892 17 December 1982 in Börnsen) was a German composer of modern music ("Neue Musik"), pianist, teacher, and conductor. Jarnach was born in Noisy-le-Sec, France, the son of a Spanish sculptor and a Flemish mother. Besi ...

Adolf Jensen Adolf Jensen (12 January 1837 – 23 January 1879) was a German pianist, composer and music teacher. Biography Jensen was born in Königsberg to a family of musicians. Although largely self-taught, he also had instruction from Louis Ehlert, ...

Mauricio Kagel Mauricio Raúl Kagel (; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer. Biography Kagel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an Ashkenazi Jewish family that had fled from Russia in the 1920s . He studied music, his ...

Aloys and Alfons Kontarsky Aloys (14 May 1931 – 22 August 2017) and Alfons (9 October 1932 – 5 May 2010) Kontarsky were German duo-pianist brothers who were associated with a number of important world premieres of contemporary works. They had an international reputatio ...

Günter Ludwig Günter Ludwig (born 1931) is a German pianist. Life and career Born in Großkrotzenburg, Ludwig attended the Musisches Gymnasium Frankfurt. He then studied piano with August Leopolder and Marguerite Long and conducting with Kurt Thomas. He ...

* Frank Martin * Josef Metternich *

Krzysztof Meyer Krzysztof Meyer (born 11 August 1943) is a Polish composer, pianist, and music scholar, formerly Dean of the Department of Music Theory (1972–1975) at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), and president of the Union of P ...

August von Othegraven August von Othegraven (2 June 1864 in Cologne – 11 March 1946 in Wermelskirchen) was a German people, German composer and music pedagogue. He worked as a professor of choral singing at the Cologne Hochschule für Musik Köln, Musikhochschule. Amo ...

Siegfried Palm Siegfried Palm (25 April 1927 – 6 June 2005) was a German cellist who is known worldwide for his interpretations of contemporary music. Many 20th-century composers like Kagel, Ligeti, Xenakis, Penderecki and Zimmermann wrote music for ...

Carl Reinecke Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (23 June 182410 March 1910) was a German composer, conductor, and pianist in the mid-Romantic era. Biography Reinecke was born in what is today the Hamburg district of Altona; technically he was born a Dane, as ...

Max Rostal Max Rostal (7 July 1905 – 6 August 1991) was a violinist and a viola player. He was Austrian-born, but later took British citizenship. Biography Max Rostal was born in Cieszyn to a Jewish merchant family. As a child prodigy, he started studyin ...

Heinrich Schiff Heinrich Schiff (18 November 1951 – 23 December 2016) was an Austrian cellist and conductor. Early life Heinrich Schiff was born on 18 November 1951 in Gmunden, Austria. His parents, Helga (née Riemann) and Helmut Schiff, were composers. He ...

Hermann Schroeder Hermann Schroeder (26 March 1904 – 7 October 1984) was a German composer and a Catholic church musician. Life Schroeder was born in Bernkastel and spent the greatest part of his life’s work in the Rheinland. His mother's family had common ...

Isidor Seiss Isidor Wilhelm Seiss (23 December 184025 September 1905) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, piano pedagogue and philanthropist. His surname also appears as Seiß, and his first name also appears as Isidore. Biography Isidor Wilhelm Seiss ...

Volker Wangenheim Volker Wangenheim (1 July 1928 – 23 April 2014) was a German conductor, composer and academic teacher. He was conductor of the orchestra in Bonn from 1957, shaping the orchestra and opening the new concert hall Beethovenhalle in 1959 after whic ...

Erich Wenk Erich Wenk (12 August 1923 – 30 March 2012) was a German bass-baritone singer in opera and especially in concert. He was a professor of voice at the . Career Wenk was born in . In 1957 he performed the by Johannes Brahms on a tour through Ge ...

Jiggs Whigham Jiggs Whigham (born Oliver Haydn Whigham III; August 20, 1943) is an American jazz trombonist. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, he began his professional career at the age of 17, joining the Glenn Miller/Ray McKinley orchestra ...

Franz Wüllner Franz Wüllner (28 January 1832 – 7 September 1902) was a German composer and conductor. He led the premieres of Wagner's ''Das Rheingold'' and ''Die Walküre'', but was much criticized by Wagner himself, who greatly preferred the more celebrate ...

(List is mixed)

References

External links