Dan Zerfaß (born 1968) is a German classical organist, the

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

at the

Worms Cathedral St Peter's Cathedral (German: ''Wormser Dom'') is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic church and former cathedral in Worms, Germany, Worms, southern Germany. The cathedral is located on the highest point of the inner city of Worms and is the mos ...

and academic teacher.

Career

Born in Simmern, Zerfaß was a student of Regional

Franz Leinhäuser in

Oberwesel Oberwesel () is a town on the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hunsrück-Mittelrhein, whose seat is in Emmelshausen. Geography Location Oberwesel l ...

. He studied at the

Hochschule für Musik Frankfurt The Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (, HfMDK) is a state Hochschule for music, theatre and dance in Frankfurt and is the only one of its kind in the Federal State of Hesse. It was founded in 1938. At present around 900 student ...

, finishing in 1992 with top honors as a church musician and graduating in 1993 as a recital organist. Influential teachers were Edgar Krapp (organ),

Wolfgang Schäfer Wolfgang Schäfer (born 7 April 1945) is a German choral conductor and academic teacher. He founded the Freiburger Vokalensemble, the BosArt Trio, and the Frankfurter Kammerchor. Career Born in Staufen im Breisgau, Schäfer studied music educa ...

(choral and orchestral conducting) and Godehard Joppich (Gregorian chant). He took master classes with Daniel Roth,

Wolfgang Rübsam Wolfgang Friedrich Rübsam (born October 16, 1946, in Gießen) is a German-American organist, pianist, composer and pedagogue. Biography After his musical training with Erich Ackermann in Fulda, Germany, Rübsam studied at the Musikhochschule in ...

and Guy Bovet (organ), Egidius Doll,

Peter Planyavsky Peter Planyavsky (born 9 May 1947) is an Austrian organist and composer. He attended the Schottengymnasium. After graduating from the Vienna Academy of Music in 1966 he spent a year in an organ workshop, and has been instrumental in organ-buil ...

and

Theo Brandmüller Theo Brandmüller (* 2 February 1948 in Mainz; † 26 November 2012 in Saarbrücken) was a German composer of contemporary music, organist and university Professor. In 1989, Zerfaß became cantor at St. Albert in Frankfurt and in 1996 the regional cantor at St. Bonifatius in Bad Nauheim. Since 1999, he has been the cantor at the cathedral St. Peter in Worms. From 1993 to 1997 he taught liturgical organ playing at the

Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe The Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe () is a college of music in Karlsruhe, Germany. Originally the Baden Conservatory of Music, it was elevated to a Hochschule under the direction of Franz Philipp, who led the school from 1924 to 1942. Studies ...

and is supervising an organ literature class at the

Hochschule für Musik Mainz The Hochschule für Musik Mainz (HfMM, Mainz School of Music) is a university of music, part of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. It is the only such institution in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History The institution was ...

of Johannes Gutenberg University in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. He is also as an organ expert of the

Diocese of Mainz The Diocese of Mainz, (, ) historically known in English as Mentz as well as by its French name Mayence, is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It was founded in 304, promoted in 780 to Metropol ...

and works in the artistic direction of the Internationale Orgelfestwochen (International organ weeks) of the festival Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz (Cultural Summer of Rhineland-Palatinate). As a composer, he participated in the project ''Mainzer Bistumsmesse'' (Mass of the Diocese of Mainz), a collaboration of six regional cantors to create a

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

in German for choir, a high voice (children's choir or soprano) and organ. He composed ''Herr, erbarme dich'', Nicolo Sokoli ''Ehre sei Gott'', Thomas Gabriel ''Ich glaube an Gott'',

Andreas Boltz Andreas Boltz (born 13 July 1964) is a German church musician and composer. From autumn 1993 until 2011, he was the Regional Cantor of the diocese of Mainz in Darmstadt. He was awarded the Premio Speciale in 1992 at the International Composers C ...

''Gottheit tief verborgen'', Ralf Stiewe ''Heilig'', Ruben J. Sturm ''Lamm Gottes''. He recorded the complete organ works by

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

and works by

Petr Eben Petr Eben (22 January 1929 – 24 October 2007) was a Czech composer of modern and contemporary classical music, and an organist and choirmaster. Life and career Born in Žamberk in northeastern Bohemia, Eben spent most of his childhood an ...

, among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zerfass, Dan 1968 births Living people People from Simmern German classical organists German cathedral organists Academic staff of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe 21st-century German organists 21st-century German male musicians German male classical organists