Thomas Reuter (born 20 January 1952) is a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, choral conductor, and a pianist focused on

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its ...

Life

Reuter was born in

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

in 1952, the son of the conductor

Rolf Reuter Rolf Reuter (7 October 1926 – 10 September 2007) was a German conductor. Life Reuter was born as son of the composer Fritz Reuter in Leipzig. After studying music at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden he began his care ...

and the singer Anemone Rau. In his childhood he received piano and violin lessons. After the

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

at the St. Thomas School, Leipzig he studied music at the Musikhochschule Leipzig from 1970 to 1976. His teachers included

Fritz Geißler Fritz Geißler (or Geissler) (16 September 1921 in Wurzen, Saxony – 11 January 1984 in Bad Saarow, Brandenburg) was one of the most important composers of the German Democratic Republic. The son of Elsa and Walther Geißler, he was raised in m ...

and

Siegfried Thiele Siegfried Thiele (born 28 March 1934) is a German composer. From 1990 to 1997 he was rector of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. Life Born in Chemnitz Thiele was born the son of a craftsman. Already at the age of twelve he created hi ...

in composition, Hans Volger in piano and Rolf Reuter in conducting. He received further inspiration from the composer and priest Lothar Reubke and took private singing lessons in Dresden. He then worked as a lecturer for choir, music theory, composition and improvisation at the in Halle/Saale.WalterThomas Heyn: ''In a small country of order and security. Young composers of the GDR and their music''. In ''MusikTexte'' 8 (1990) 33/34, , here . He composed works for the

Staatskapelle Dresden The Staatskapelle Dresden (known formally as the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden) is a German orchestra based in Dresden, the capital of Saxony. Founded in 1548 by Maurice, Elector of Saxony, it is one of the world's oldest and most highly re ...

and the

Dresden Philharmonic The Dresdner Philharmonie (Dresden Philharmonic) is a German symphony orchestra based in Dresden. Its principal concert venue is the ''Kulturpalast''. The orchestra also performs at the Kreuzkirche, the Hochschule für Musik Dresden, and the ...

, and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

. His pieces were performed in the

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

and in the so-called

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

. In 1989, his father conducted the orchestra of the

Komische Oper The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal tra ...

in the premiere of the Cello Concerto, with soloist

Jan Vogler Jan Vogler (born February 18, 1964) is a German-born classical cellist who lives in New York City."About Jan Vogler" ...

, as part of the Berliner Festtage festival. He was awarded music prizes in the GDR. In 1977, Reuter co-founded the Gruppe Freie Musik Dresden. He was active as an improvisor in many ways. From 1998 to 2011 he formed IndiviDuo with the violinist Rike Kohlhepp. In 2003 both formed the ''nu ART trio'' (a wordplay of "new art") with saxophonist Andreas Krennerich. In 2008 he formed PLASMA 8 with Krennerich. In 2012, he formed the Selbander duo with the singer Angelica Remlinger. In 2013 he formed the trio ''jo.Feuerbach'' with Remlinger and Krennerich. Reuter is also conductor of the women's chamber choir ''vocaLumen'' in

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

creating settings of several poems by

Paul Celan Paul Celan (; ; 23 November 1920 – c. 20 April 1970) was a Romanian-born German-language poet and translator. He was born as Paul Antschel to a Jewish family in Cernăuți (German: Czernowitz), in the then Kingdom of Romania (now Chernivtsi, U ...

for them. He is also active in

The Christian Community The Christian Community (german: Die Christengemeinschaft) is an esoteric Christian denomination. It was founded in 1922 in Switzerland by a group of ecumenically oriented, mainly Lutheran theologians and ministers led by liberal theologian Frie ...

Awards

* 1986: Hans Stieber Prize. * 1990:

Handel Prize The Handel Prize (german: Händel-Preis) is an annual award, instituted in 1956, which is presented by the city of Halle, in Germany, in honour of the celebrated Baroque composer George Frideric Handel. It is awarded, "for exceptional artistic, ...

Christoph Rink: ''Chronologie des Händelpreises''. In ''Mitteilungen des Freundes- und Förderkreises des Händel-Hauses zu Halle e.V.'' 1/2012, , here .

Compositions

Reuter's work is published among others by

Edition Peters Edition Peters is a classical music publisher founded in Leipzig, Germany in 1800. History The company came into being on 1 December 1800 when the Viennese composer Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754–1812) and the local organist Ambrosius Kühnel ( ...

and the . * ''Wandlungen'' (1980) for flute, string trio and piano * ''Stufen'' (1982/83) for flute, viola and cello * ''Zeitspiele'' (1983) for piano * ''Wind quintet'' (1984/85) * ''String quartet'' (1985/86) * ''Hälfte des Lebens'' (1986) for soprano, oboe, violin, violoncello and pianotsch National Bibliothek List o
compositions by Thomas Reuter
on

Deutsche Nationalbibliothek 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 ...

Literature

Walter Thomas Heyn Walter Thomas Heyn (born 14 November 1953) is a German guitarist, composer and music producer. Life Born in Görlitz, Heyn was initially musically self-taught. From the age of fourteen he played guitar and performed in singing clubs. From 1974 ...

: "In einem kleinen Land der Ordnung und Sicherheit. Junge Komponisten der DDR und ihre Musik." In ' 8 (1990) 33/34, .

References

External links

*
Thomas Reuter
beim Frauenkammerchor vocaLumen {{DEFAULTSORT:Reuter, Thomas German classical pianists Male classical pianists 20th-century classical composers 20th-century German composers German music educators German choral conductors 1952 births Living people People from Eisenach 20th-century German male musicians