Rolf Beck (15 January 1945) is a German conductor, especially a choral conductor. He was, from 1999 to 2013, Intendant of the

Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival is a classical music festival held each summer throughout the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986 by German concert pianist Justus Frantz. In 2006, the 2 ...

. He founded several choirs and the (International Choral Academy Lübeck).

Career

Born in

Michelstadt Michelstadt () in the Odenwald is a town in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in southern Hesse, Germany between Darmstadt and Heidelberg. It has a population of 28,629 people. Geography Location Michelstadt is the biggest town in the Odenwaldkr ...

, Beck studied law at the

Marburg University The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

and Lausanne University. He studied conducting at the with

Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakademie ...

. He founded and directed the (Marburg Vocal Ensemble). From 1981, Beck was Intendant of the , where he founded the choir ' in 1983, and the instrumental ensemble ''Concerto Bamberg''. From 1996 he was director of the sections orchestra and choir for the broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk. He was Intendant of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival from 1999 to 2013. In 2013 he conducted with the festival choir and orchestra a charity concert of the President of Germany,

Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician and civil rights activist who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in E ...

, featuring Verdi's ' and Rossini's '. He founded a Chorakademie as part of the festival, a place of study and performance for young international singers. After retiring, he kept directing the academy under the new name Internationale Chorakademie Lübeck (International Choral Academy Lübeck). He founded in 2015 a choral academy in Brazil, performing first Carl Orff's ''

Carmina burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...

''. With the Lübeck academy, he conducted four of Bach's motets for the

Rheingau Musik Festival The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...

at St. Stephan, Mainz on 27 August 2015. He was awarded the in 1989, and was appointed honorary professor 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 ...

in 2008.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Rolf German male conductors (music) Choral conductors 1945 births Living people University of Marburg alumni University of Lausanne alumni Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts alumni Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians Norddeutscher Rundfunk people