Rainer Seegers (born 6 August 1952 in

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...

), is a German

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

ist, former timpanist of the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

, tutor of the

European Union Youth Orchestra The European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) is a youth orchestra with members drawn from the 27 members states of the European Union. Since its foundation in 1976, it has connected music colleges and the professional music world for generations o ...

and guest professor at the

Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German language, German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions ...

. Seegers is also a timpani soloist who has championed the unusual repertoire for timpani and orchestra.

Biography

Seegers first musical influence was his grandfather, who was a trumpetist with the

Gewandhaus Orchestra 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 ...

in Leipzig. After his family moved to

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, he studied percussion at the local Musikhochschule, although he had been performing professionally with the Hanover Staatsoper. Soon after he got his first principal position as timpanist of the Braunschweig Staatstheater, he left this position to join the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra. From 1977 to 1982 he performed with the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. In 1982, Seegers joined the

Berlin Philharmonic orchestra The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

and now is their principal

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

st. Seegers is also a timpani soloist who has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic and the

Berliner Symphoniker The Berliner Symphoniker (''Berlin Symphony Orchestra'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. History The orchestra began its performing activity on 1 September 1967 as ''Symphonisches Orchester Berlin'', under the auspices of ...

. Rainer Seegers served as faculty member of the Musikhochschule Hannover, the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Orchestra Academy and as a visiting professor at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Seegers is known today as one of the best living timpanists, due to his fluid motions, full tone, and relaxation.

References

External links

Berliner Philharmoniker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seegers, Rainer Living people People from Dessau-Roßlau German percussionists Players of the Berlin Philharmonic Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover alumni 1952 births