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Johannes Kalitzke (born 12 February 1959) is a German composer and conductor. After studying in Cologne and at the
IRCAM IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of music and sound, especially in the fields of avant garde and electro-acoustical art music. It is ...
in Paris, he was chief conductor at the Musiktheater im Revier in
Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...
for several years, then led the ensemble
musikFabrik The Ensemble Musikfabrik (music factory ensemble) is an ensemble for contemporary classical music located in Cologne. Their official name is Ensemble Musikfabrik Landesensemble NRW e.V. (Ensemble Musikfabrik of the state of North Rhine-Westphali ...
and composed operas on commissions in Germany and Austria. He has been Professor of Conducting (
Contemporary Music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included se ...
) at the Salzburg
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 Mo ...
from 2015.


Early life

Born in
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, Kalitzke trained on the piano from 1967 to 1977 with
Jeanette Chéro Jeanette Chéro, ''née'' ''Christiane Roscher'', (4 April 1927) is a German artist and representative of the literary chanson in Germany. Life Born in Dresden, Chéro grew up with classical music and started composing at the age of nine. Her so ...
and studied church music in Cologne from 1974 to 1976. He studied further at the
Musikhochschule Köln A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise ...
from 1978 to 1981, studying piano with Aloys Kontarsky, conducting with Wolfgang von der Nahmer, and composition with
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 wit ...
, and later electronic music with Ulrich Humpert. He focused on electronic music at the
IRCAM IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of music and sound, especially in the fields of avant garde and electro-acoustical art music. It is ...
in Paris with
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 ...
in 1982–83, on a scholarship of the
Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes The German Academic Scholarship Foundation (German: , or ''Studienstiftung'' for short) is Germany's largest and most prestigious scholarship foundation. According to its statutes, it supports "the university education of young people who, on ac ...
.


Career

From 1984 to 1990, Kalitze was first
Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...
and then chief conductor at the Musiktheater im Revier in
Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...
. From 1986, he was also the leader of the Forum für Neue Musik there, succeeding
Carla Henius Carla Henius (4 May 1919 – 27 December 2002) was a German operatic soprano and mezzo-soprano, voice teacher and librettist. She played a decisive role in promoting recent works by composers such as Arnold Schönberg, Karlheinz Stockhausen and L ...
. From 1991, he was artistic director of the ensemble
musikFabrik The Ensemble Musikfabrik (music factory ensemble) is an ensemble for contemporary classical music located in Cologne. Their official name is Ensemble Musikfabrik Landesensemble NRW e.V. (Ensemble Musikfabrik of the state of North Rhine-Westphali ...
. Since 1996, he has taught at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse and held master classes at several universities of music, and for
Deutscher Musikrat The Deutscher Musikrat (DMR, ''German Music Council''; ) is an umbrella organization for music associations and the 16 music councils of the German federal states.musikrat.deÜberblick über Organisationsstruktur des DMR(retrieved on 10 May 2019) ...
. His first opera, ''Bericht über den Tod des Musikers Jack Tiergarten'', premiered at the
Munich Biennale The Munich Biennale (german: Münchener Biennale) is a contemporary opera and music theatre festival in the city of Munich. The full German name is ''Internationales Festival für neues Musiktheater'', literally: International Festival for New Musi ...
in 1996. On a commission from the state of
Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
, he composed his second opera, ''Molière oder die Henker der Komödianten'', which premiered in
Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...
in 1998, as did his opera ''Inferno'' in 2004. In 2007, Kalitzke received a commission from
Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...
to compose ''Die Besessenen'' after
Witold Gombrowicz Witold Marian Gombrowicz (August 4, 1904 – July 24, 1969) was a Polish writer and playwright. His works are characterised by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and absurd, anti-nationalist flavor. In 1937 he published his fi ...
, which premiered on 19 February 2010. His fifth opera, ''Pym'', based on
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
's novel ''
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket ''The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket'' (1838) is the only complete novel written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The work relates the tale of the young Arthur Gordon Pym, who stows away aboard a whaling ship called the ''Grampus' ...
'', premiered in
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...
in May 2016. The story is told by nine male singers and by dancers, while a quartet with also female voices performs from behind the scene. ''Online Musik Magazin'' wrote that Kalitzke's score "could be a musical representation of the world of
Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ;  – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/ Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on o ...
." Kalitzke has been a professor of conducting contemporary music 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 Mo ...
in
Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
from 2015.


Awards

* 1990 of Cologne * 2003
Villa Massimo Villa Massimo, short for Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo ( it, Accademia Tedesca Roma Villa Massimo), is a German cultural institution in Rome, established in 1910 and located in the Villa Massimo. The fellowship of the German Academy in Rom ...
Fellowship * 2009 Member of the Academy of the Arts, Berlin * 2015 Member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts


Compositions

Kalitzke's works are held by the
German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...
: * ''Spiegelbild'' (1979) * ''De Profundis'' (1980/86) * ''Macchina d’autunno'' (1982) * ''Berceuse intégrale pour Hieronymus Bosch'' (1982/83) * ''Trio Infernal'' (1985) * ''Rotationsetüde'' (1985/86) * ''Die Hundertjahrfeier der Nacht'' (1986) * ''Jardins Paradoxaux'' (1986) * ''Das Labyrinth der Lieder'' (1987) * ''Tübingen, Jänner'' (1988) * ''Nachtschleife'' (1989) * ''Bis zum äußersten Tor'', Kafka-Komplex for solo voices, viola, piano and ''Zuspiel'' (1989–2006) * ''Salto, Trapez, Ikarus'' (1990) * ''Bericht über den Tod des Musikers Jack Tiergarten'' (1991) * ''Hände im Spiegel'' (1992/93) * ''Die Rückseite der Tage'' (1994) * ''Moliere oder die Henker der Komödianten'' (1994–97) * ''Chasse Royale'' (1995) * ''Circus Frenzy'' (1995) * ''Cruxification I'' (1997) * ''Schuberts Traum – Stilleben mit Inferno nach einem Tagebuchtext von Franz Schubert, für Stimmen und Ensemble'' (Schubert's Dream – Still life with inferno after a diary text by Franz Schubert, for voices and ensemble, 1999) * ''Six Covered Settings'' (1999/2000) * ''Vier Toteninseln'' (2002/03) * ''memoria'' (2003) * ''Inferno'', musical stage work after the play by
Peter Weiss Peter Ulrich Weiss (8 November 1916 – 10 May 1982) was a German writer, painter, graphic artist, and experimental filmmaker of adopted Swedish nationality. He is particularly known for his plays ''Marat/Sade'' and ''The Investigation'' and hi ...
(2004) * ''Ortswechsel'' (2007) * ''Die Besessenen'', opera (2009, premiered in 2010) * ''Figuren am Horizont'', for violin solo and six instrumentalists * ''Die Weber'', music to the silent film by
Friedrich Zelnik Frederic Zelnik (born Friedrich Zelnik, 17 May 1885 – 29 November 1950) was an Austrian producer, director, and actor. He was one of the most important producers-directors of the German silent cinema. Zelnik achieved success through period oper ...
(1927) for chamber orchestra (2011/12) * ''Angels Burnout Graffiti'' for ensemble (2012) * ''Pym'' (2013/2015), opera (premiered in 2016)


References


External links

*
Werke von Johannes Kalitzke
Edition Gravis

The Living Composers Project *
Johannes Kalitzke / Born 12 February 1959
BBC {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalitzke, Johannes 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln alumni Academic staff of Mozarteum University Salzburg Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Musicians from Cologne 1959 births Living people 20th-century German composers 21st-century German composers