The Folkwang University of the Arts is a university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies, located in four German cities of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

. Since 1927, its traditional main location has been in the former

Werden Abbey Werden Abbey (german: Kloster Werden) was a Benedictine monastery in Essen-Werden (Germany), situated on the Ruhr. The foundation of the abbey Near Essen Saint Ludger founded a monastery in 799 and became its first abbot. The little church ...

in Essen in the Ruhr area, with additional facilities in

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...

, Bochum, and Dortmund, and, since 2010, at the

Zeche Zollverein The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex (German Zeche Zollverein) is a large former industrial site in the city of Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The first coal mine on the premises was founded in 1847, and mining activities took pla ...

, a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

also in Essen. The Folkwang University is home to the international dance company ''Folkwang Tanz Studio'' (FTS). Founded as , its name was Folkwang Hochschule (Folkwang Academy) from 1963 until 2009. Essen Kloster Werden Innenhof 2 2005

History

Essen Werden - Folkwang-Hochschule 08 ies

The university shares its unusual name with the

Museum Folkwang Museum Folkwang is a major collection of 19th- and 20th-century art in Essen, Germany. The museum was established in 1922 by merging the Essener Kunstmuseum, which was founded in 1906, and the private Folkwang Museum of the collector and patr ...

founded in 1902 by arts patron

Karl Ernst Osthaus Karl Ernst Osthaus (15 April 1874, in Hagen – 25 March 1921, in Merano) was an important German patron of avant-garde art and architecture. Life Osthaus was born to a wealthy banking family, who also owned several businesses in the textile a ...

. The term ''Folkwang'' derives from

Fólkvangr In Norse mythology, Fólkvangr (Old Norse: , "field of the host"Orchard (1997:45). or "people-field" or "army-field"Lindow (2001:118).) is a meadow or field ruled over by the goddess Freyja where half of those that die in combat go upon death, w ...

, the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

name of a mythical meadow where the dead gather who are chosen by

Freyja In Norse paganism, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chario ...

, the Norse goddess of love and beauty, to spend the afterlife with her. The school's founders, opera director , stage designer

Hein Heckroth Hein Heckroth (14 April 1901 in Gießen - 7 July 1970 in Amsterdam) was a German art director of stage and film productions. Heckroth began his career working with the German national ballet. Later, he moved to Great Britain and, after designing ...

and choreographer

Kurt Jooss Kurt Jooss (12 January 1901 – 22 May 1979)Kurt Jooss
Internationales Biographisches Archi ...

, regarded this ''Folkwang'' as a symbol for the arts as a unified whole, rather than divided into separate classes. The ''Folkwangschule für Musik, Tanz und Sprechen'' (Folkwang School for Music, Dance, and Speech) opened in 1927 in Essen, and in 1928 a previously established school of design merged with the institution. In 1963 the Folkwang school was renamed ''Folkwang-Hochschule'' (Folkwang Academy). In 2010 the institution began offering graduate studies and was renamed Folkwang University of the Arts. This coincided with

Ruhr.2010 Ruhr.2010 – Kulturhauptstadt Europas was the name of the campaign in Germany's Ruhr region that earned it recognition as a European Capital of Culture in 2010. This was the first time a region was considered, as Essen represented all 53 towns ...

, the festival in which the Ruhr district was designated the European Capital of Culture for the year 2010.

Activities

Zollverein School of Management and Design 3116754

The Folkwang University unites training in music, theatre, dance, design and scholarship, in order to encourage collaboration among the arts.''academics''
The Institution – Courses – Activities Public events take place at the Folkwang University on its six in-house stages and in collaboration with cultural institutions of the region, such as the , the

Schauspiel Bochum The Schauspielhaus Bochum is one of the notable drama theatres in Germany. It is located on Königsallee in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-We ...

Musiktheater im Revier Musiktheater im Revier (MiR) (Music Theatre in the Ruhr) is the venue for performing opera, operetta, musical theatre and ballet in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. It opened on 15 December 1959; it is listed since 1997 as a protected cultural monument. Th ...

, the

Duisburg Philharmonic The Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra (in German: Duisburger Philharmoniker) is a German orchestra based in Duisburg. The orchestra was founded in 1877. Conductors include: * Walter Josephson (1899 to 1920) * Paul Scheinpflug (1920 to 1928) * Eug ...

, the

Wuppertaler Bühnen Wuppertaler Bühnen is the municipal theatre company in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It serves opera and plays. The opera house Opernhaus Wuppertal has served from 1956 as a venue for opera and performances of the separate dance ...

and the

Ruhrfestspiele Ruhrfestspiele (Ruhr Festival) in Recklinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, is one of the oldest theatre festivals in Europe. Founded after World War II, the festival is a major annual cultural event for the Ruhr area. It always starts on 1 ...

. Undergraduate courses: * Instrumental training for different musical instruments (accordion, bassoon, cello, clarinet, double bass, flute, guitar, harp, harpsichord, horn, oboe, organ, percussion, piano, recorder, saxophone, trombone, trumpet, tuba, viola, violin) * Jazz / Performing Artist * Integrative composition (instrumental composition, electronic composition, jazz composition, pop composition, composition and visualisation) * Church music * Voice (concert performance, Lieder, oratorio and music theatre) * School Music * Music pedagogy * Musicology in combination with an artistic subject * Musicals * Acting * Physical Theatre * Directing * Dance * Industrial Design * Communication Design * Photography Advanced programs: * Orchestral playing * Conducting (orchestral/choir) * Vocal Ensemble Direction * Musicology in combination with an artistic discipline * Chamber music * Composition (electronic composition, instrumental composition, instrumental/electronic composition) * Concert Performance * Solo Dance * Choreography * Labanotation * Dance Pedagogy

Faculty

Faculty have included: * Hermann Baumann, hornist *

Young-Chang Cho Young-Chang Cho (born 1958 in Seoul) is a Korean classical cellist teaching at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Germany's Ruhr Area. Career Young-Chang Cho was born in Seoul in 1958. He began cello lessons at the age of eight. From 1971, ...

, cellist *

Anna Erler-Schnaudt Anna Erler-Schnaudt (11 March 1878 – 30 April 1963) was a German contralto and voice teacher. She performed in the premiere of Mahler's Eighth Symphony and taught at the Folkwangschule. Career Anna Schnaudt was born in Moers. She studied voic ...

, contralto *

Catherine Gayer Catherine Gayer (born 11 February 1937) is an American coloratura soprano, violinist, musicologist, and academic voice teacher. She made a career in Germany. A member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin for more than four decades, she is known for her p ...

, coloratura soprano *

Wilfried Gruhn Wilfried Gruhn (born 15 October 1939) is a German violinist, musicologist, music educator, and professor emeritus at universities in Germany and abroad. His focus is the music education of small children. He founded and directed the Gordon Instit ...

(music pedagogy) *

Hansgünther Heyme Hansgünther Heyme (born 22 August 1935) is a German theatre director and prominent figure in the Regietheater movement of the 1960s and 70s. Born in Bad Mergentheim, he studied at Heidelberg University and then under the German director Erwin Pi ...

, theatre director * Chris Houlding *

Nicolaus A. Huber Nicolaus A. Huber (born 15 December 1939) is a German composer. Education Huber was born in Passau. From 1958 to 1962 he studied music education at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and subsequently composition with Franz Xaver Lehn ...

* Ifor James *

Peter Janssens Peter Janssens (17 June 1934 – 24 December 1998) was a German musician and composer who wrote and performed incidental music for several theatres, and songs and musicals of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied, a pioneer of . He worked at a Germa ...

Kurt Jooss Kurt Jooss (12 January 1901 – 22 May 1979)Kurt Jooss
Internationales Biographisches Archi ...

Nicola Jürgensen Nicola Jürgensen (born 1975) is a German clarinetist and academic teacher. She played principal clarinet with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne from 2001 to 2018, and has been professor of clarinet at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen fr ...

(b. 1975), clarinet * Uwe Köller * Scott Lawton, conductor *

Fritz Lehmann Fritz Lehmann (17 May 190430 March 1956) was a noted German conductor, whose career was cut short by his early death at the age of 51. His repertoire ranged from the Baroque through to contemporary works, in both the concert hall and the opera ...

, conductor *

Frank Lloyd Frank William George Lloyd (2 February 1886 – 10 August 1960) was a British-born American film director, actor, scriptwriter, and producer. He was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was its preside ...

, hornist *

Lore Lorentz Lore Lorentz (12 September 1920 – 22 February 1994) was a German Kabarett artist and standup comedian. She was born in Mährisch-Ostrau, Czechoslovakia (today Ostrava in the Czech Republic) as Lore Schirmer. She studied history, German literatur ...

* Lauren Newton *

Walter Nicks Walter Nicks (July 26, 1925 – April 3, 2007) was an African-American modern dancer, choreographer, and teacher of jazz and modern dance. He was a certified master teacher of Katherine Dunham technique. He was professionally active for nearly 60 ...

* Ralf Otto (born 1956), choral conducting *

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', ' ...

(1966 to 1968), composer * Reinhard Peters (1926–2008), conductor * Gudrun Schröfel choral conducting * Gerhard Stäbler *

Rita Streich Rita Streich (18 December 192020 March 1987) was one of the most admired and recorded lyric coloratura sopranos of the post-war period. Biography Rita Streich was born in Barnaul, southern Siberia, in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Repu ...

, operatic soprano *

Paul Tortelier Paul Tortelier (21 March 1914 – 18 December 1990) was a French cellist and composer. After an outstanding student career at the Conservatoire de Paris he played in orchestras in France and the US before the Second World War. After the war he b ...

Adolf Wamper Adolf Wamper (23 June 1901 – 22 May 1977) was a German sculptor. Most of his works were figural, with some in an abstract realist style. During the 1930s he produced monumental sculptures for the Nazi régime; after World War II he taught at ...

(1901–1977), sculptor

Alumni

Alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

include: *

Pina Bausch Philippine "Pina" Bausch (27 July 1940 – 30 June 2009) was a German dancer and choreographer who was a significant contributor to a neo-expressionist dance tradition now known as . Bausch's approach was noted for a stylized blend of dance m ...

(1940–2009), choreographer *

Anne Bierwirth Anne Bierwirth is a German contralto, focused on concerts and recordings of sacred music, appearing internationally. Besides the standard repertoire such as Bach's ''Christmas Oratorio'', she has explored rarely performed Baroque music such as B ...

, contralto * Max Burchartz * Andreas Deja * Vladimir Djambazov (born 1954), composer, french horn, sound designer * Stefan Dohr (born 1965), principal horn player 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 ...

Tommy Finke Tommy Finke (born Thomas David Finke on 4 February 1981 in Bochum, Germany), also known as T.D. Finck von Finckenstein, is a singer-songwriter as well as composer of electronic computer music, theatre music and for modern dance. Bio Tomm ...

* Thomas Gabriel (composer) (born 1957) * Agnes Giebel (born 1920), soprano *

Ulrike Grossarth Ulrike Grossarth (born 1952) is a German artist, dancer, and academic. Since 1998 she has been professor of mixed media art at Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. She was awarded the 2009 Käthe Kollwitz Prize by the Academy of Arts, Berlin for her coll ...

(born 1952), dancer and visual artist * Klara Höfels (1949–2022), actress and producer *

Hilmar Hoffmann Hilmar Hoffmann (25 August 1925 – 1 June 2018) was a German stage and film director, cultural politician and academic lecturer. He founded the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. He was for decades an influential city councillor in Fr ...

(1925–2018), founder of Oberhausen film festival, cultural politician in Frankfurt, director of Goethe-Institut *

Reinhild Hoffmann Reinhild Hoffmann (born 1 November 1943 in Sorau) is a German choreographer and dancer who is an important innovator in Tanztheater, along with Pina Bausch and Susanne Linke.Walther, Suzanne. ''Dance of Death: Kurt Jooss and the Weimar Years''. Ha ...

(born 1943), choreographer *

Siegfried Jerusalem Siegfried Jerusalem (born 17 April 1940) is a German operatic tenor. Closely identified with the heldentenor roles of Richard Wagner, he has performed Siegfried, Siegmund, Lohengrin, Parsifal, and Tristan to wide acclaim. Since the 1990s, he has ...

(born 1940), tenor *

Salome Kammer Salome Kammer (born 17 January 1959 in Nidda, Hesse, West Germany) is a German actress, singer and cellist. Professional career Kammer was the fourth of six children. Her father was a Protestant pastor. Although born in Nidda, she grew up in Ob ...

(born 1959), cellist, vocalist * David Kamp *

Heinz Kiwitz Heinz Kiwitz (September 4, 1910 – 1938) was a German artist. His woodcuts were in the German Expressionist style. An anti-fascist, he was arrested following the Nazis' seizure of power. He survived imprisonment in Kemna and Börgermoor concent ...

* Helmut Koch (conductor) (1908–1975), conductor, choir leader, broadcasting manager, composer * Susanne Linke *

Christof Loy Christof Loy (born 5 December 1962) is a German stage director especially for opera, whose work received several awards. A freelance director, he has staged operas from Baroque to premieres of new works at major European opera houses and festivals. ...

(born 1962), opera director *

Gerd Ludwig Gerd Ludwig (birth name Gerhard Erich Ludwig, born March 17, 1947, in Alsfeld, Hesse, Germany) is a German-American documentary photographer and photojournalist. Biography Gerd Ludwig initially studied German literature, political science, and ...

* Ann Mandrella *

John McGuire (composer) John McGuire (born June 27, 1942 in Artesia, California) is an American composer, pianist, organist, and music editor. Biography John McGuire initially studied composition with Robert Arthur Gross at Occidental College, where he earned a BA in 1 ...

* Carlos Orta *

Jürgen Prochnow Jürgen Prochnow ( ; born 10 June 1941) is a German-American actor. His international breakthrough was his portrayal of the good-hearted and sympathetic U-boat Captain "Der Alte" ("Old Man") in the 1981 war film ''Das Boot''. He is also known f ...

(born 1941), actor *

Andreas Pruys Andreas Pruys (born in Kleve) is a German classical bass singer. Professional career Andreas Pruys studied singing and church music at the Folkwanghochschule in Essen. He worked as a church musician for several years, also as director of the m ...

, bass * Karl Ridderbusch (1932–1997), bass *

Armin Rohde Armin Rohde (born 4 April 1955) is a German actor and voice actor. He was born in Gladbeck. Filmography Audiobooks * 1999: Roger Graf: Philip Maloney – ''Auf der Flucht'', ''Die Armbanduhr'' and ''Der Mörderhai'', publisher: Tandem Ve ...

(born 1955), actor *

Thomas Ruff Thomas Ruff (born 10 February 1958) is a German photographer who lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany. He has been described as "a master of edited and reimagined images". Ruff shares a studio on Düsseldorf's Hansaallee, with fellow German ...

* Adéọlá Ọlágúnjú *

Stefanie Schneider Stefanie Schneider (born 1968) is a German photographer living in Berlin and Los Angeles. Schneider's photographs exhibit the appearance of expired Polaroid instant film, with its chemical mutations. It has been released in books and exhibition c ...

* Peter Schwickerath (born 1942), sculptor * Harald Siepermann, animator and character designer *

Ruth Siewert Ruth Siewert (also Rut, Sievert-Schnaudt, Sievert; 1915 – July 2002) was a German contralto and voice teacher. She performed roles by Richard Wagner at major opera houses in Europe and at the Bayreuth Festival, and was known as a singer of ora ...

(1915–2002), contralto *

Anton Stankowski Anton Stankowski (June 18, 1906 – December 11, 1998) was a German graphic designer, photographer and painter. He developed an original Theory of Design and pioneered Constructive Graphic Art. Typical Stankowski designs attempt to illustrate ...

* Günther Strupp * Raphael Thoene *

Graham Waterhouse Graham Waterhouse (born 2 November 1962) is an English composer and cellist who specializes in chamber music. He has composed a cello concerto, '' Three Pieces for Solo Cello'' and '' Variations for Cello Solo'' for his own instrument, and str ...

(born 1962), composer and cellist * Dirk Weiler * Greta Wrage von Pustau, dancer and dance teacher

References

External links

Folkwang UniversityICEM Institute For Computer Music and Electronic Media
(in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

) {{authority control Dance education in Germany Music schools in Germany Performing arts education in Germany Educational institutions established in 1927 1927 establishments in Germany Universities and colleges in North Rhine-Westphalia

History

Activities

Faculty

Alumni

See also

References

Further reading

External links