Max Pommer (born 9 February 1936) is a German musicologist and conductor, a director of the

Leipziger Universitätschor The Leipziger Universitätschor (LUC) is the university choir of the University of Leipzig. A mixed choir, it is formed by approximately 100 students from all faculties. It was founded in 1926 as Madrigalkreis Leipziger Studenten (Madrigal circle o ...

and the founder and conductor of the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum.

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 ...

, Pommer was a student of 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 ...

in his home town, where he founded a chamber orchestra. He studied conducting and piano at the Musikhochschule Leipzig, and from 1960 to 1964 also

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

at the

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

. He was the conductor of the

from 1973 to 1987. He founded in 1979 the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum, formed by players of the

Gewandhausorchester The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

, which gained him international recognition and awards. In 1980, he was appointed professor at the Leipzig University. From 1987 to 1991, Pommer was

Generalmusikdirektor A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

of the

MDR Sinfonieorchester 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 ...

. He was the conductor of the from 2001 to 2011, when he celebrated his 75th birthday.Pressestelle des Senats
''Senator-Biermann-Ratjen-Medaille an Max Pommer. Behörde zeichnet Künstlerischen Leiter der Hamburger Camerata aus.''
Pressemitteilung vom 20. Januar 2011.

Awards

* 1979: Kunstpreis der DDR * 1985:

Nationalpreis der DDR The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) (german: Nationalpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) was an award of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, ...

für Kunst und Literatur, III. Klasse * 1985:

Deutscher Schallplattenpreis The Deutscher Schallplattenpreis was a prize that the awarded from 1963 through 1992. Its successor is the Echo Music Prize Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recog ...

* 2011:

Biermann-Ratjen-Medaille The Biermann-Ratjen-Medaille (Biermann Ratjen Medal) is an award of the City of Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1978 by the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg to commemorate the achievements of the previous senator of culture Hans ...

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

Literature

* Horst Riedel: ''Stadtlexikon Leipzig von A bis Z.'' Pro Leipzig, Leipzig 2005, . * Thomas Wolter
Hecht im Karpfenteich
interview in ''alla breve – Magazin der Hochschule des Saarlandes für Musik und Theater'', 8. Jahrgang (2003), H. 1, p 16 f

References

External links

*

Bach Cantatas Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Pommer, Max German male conductors (music) Musicians from Leipzig 1936 births Living people University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni Academic staff of Leipzig University Leipzig University alumni German musicologists 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians