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Gernot Süßmuth (born 12 October 1963) is a German violinist and politician (
BSW BSW may refer to: *Bachelor of Social Work, an academic qualification at some institutions *Bally Sports West, American regional sports network owned and operated by Bally Sports * Batesville Southwestern Railroad, Mississippi, United States *Beth ...
). He is first
concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...
of the
Staatskapelle Weimar The (DNT), or German National Theater and Weimar State Orchestra, is the most significant arts organization in Weimar. The institution unites the (German National Theater) with the (Weimar State Orchestra). It plays on a total of six stages ...
and
honorary professor Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...
at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar.


Life and work

As the son of Gunthard Süßmuth (head of the environmental department of
Hoyerswerda Hoyerswerda () or Wojerecy () is a major district town in the district of Bautzen in the German state of Saxony. It is located in the Sorbian settlement area of Upper Lusatia, in which the Upper Sorbian language is spoken in addition to German. ...
), Gernot Süßmuth first attended the music school in Hoyerswerda. At the age of nine he was already performing as a soloist with an orchestra. This was followed by prizes at children's and youth competitions. At the age of 16 he studied at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin. He completed his violin studies in 1984 with a soloist diploma. In 1985 the
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin. In Berlin, the orchestra gives concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin and at the Berliner Philharmonie. The orchestra has a ...
hired him as concertmaster. From 2000 to 2002 he was concertmaster of the
Staatskapelle Berlin The Staatskapelle Berlin () is a German orchestra and the resident orchestra of the Berlin State Opera, Unter den Linden. The orchestra is one of the oldest in the world. Until the fall of the German Empire in 1918 the orchestra's name was , i.e ...
. Since August 2002 he has been first concertmaster of the Staatskapelle Weimar. Süßmuth is also a successful chamber musician. From 1983 to March 2000 he was a member of the Petersen Quartet, performed in major international concert halls and released numerous CDs, which have won awards including the Grand Prix Du Disc, the
Echo Music Prize Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The first ECHO Awards ceremony was held in 1992, and was set up to honor ...
and the German Record Critics' Prize. At the turn of the millennium he founded the  with his former quartet colleague Hans-Jakob Eschenburg, and in 2008 the Waldstein Quartet with
Mirijam Contzen Mirijam Contzen (born in 1976) is a German-Japanese violinist. Life and career Born in Münster, Contzen grew up in Lünen. She began her studies at the Musikhochschule Detmold in 1984 and from 1988 she was a master student of the violin teacher ...
, Ulrich Eichenauer and Peter Hörr. Süßmuth was artistic director of the European Union Chamber Orchestra until 2011 and concertmaster under
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 Bachakade ...
at the Bach Academy (
Bach-Collegium Stuttgart Bach-Collegium Stuttgart is an internationally known German instrumental ensemble, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1965 to accompany the Gächinger Kantorei in choral music with orchestra. Its members are mostly orchestra musicians from Germany and ...
) in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
from 2001 to 2014. Concert tours have taken him as a conductor and soloist through
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, to various countries in Central and
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
and to
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. He was concertmaster at the
Oregon Bach Festival Oregon Bach Festival (OBF) is an annual celebration of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and his musical legacy, held in Eugene, Oregon, United States, in late June and early July. About the festival The festival's programming is three-fold. It ...
for many years. In 2012 he became director of the WestfalenClassics festival. In 2023 he was on a guest tour in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
as orchestra conductor with the
Camerata Salzburg The Camerata Salzburg is an Austrian chamber orchestra based in Salzburg, Austria. The Camerata's principal concert venue is the Mozarteum University. History Bernhard Paumgartner founded the ensemble in 1952 as the ''Camerata Academica des Moz ...
. In addition to his chamber music activities, he regularly appears as a soloist and with other renowned chamber music partners, including Steven Bishop, Paul Meyer,
Daniel Barenboim Daniel Moses Barenboim (; born 15 November 1942) is an Argentines, Argentine-Israeli classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin, who also has Spain, Spanish and State of Palestine, Palestinian citizenship. From 1992 until January 2023, Bare ...
,
Norbert Brainin Norbert Brainin, OBE (12 March 1923 in Vienna – 10 April 2005 in London) was the first violinist of the Amadeus Quartet, one of the world's most highly regarded string quartets. Because of Brainin's Jewish origin, he was driven out of Vienna ...
and Martin Lovett. In 2018, Süßmuth founded the , with which he developed his own style of Bach interpretation as artistic director. Süßmuth has devoted himself for many years to the training of young musicians at the music academies in Berlin and Weimar and in 2004 accepted an appointment as honorary professor at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Weimar. For several decades he has also worked as an orchestra conductor at the summer courses of the Werkgemeinschaft Musik. wrote a
violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
for Gernot Süßmuth in 2020. Süßmuth is married to the cellist Dagmar Spengler-Süßmuth. From his first marriage to the violinist Regina Süßmuth they have two children.


Political involvement

Gernot Süßmuth joined the newly founded
Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance – Reason and Justice ( , BSW) is a List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany founded on 8 January 2024. It has been described as a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-le ...
(BSW) on 15 March 2024 and ran on the BSW
state list The State List or List-II is a list of 61 items. Initially there were 66 items in the list in Schedule Seven to the Constitution of India. The legislative section is divided into three lists: the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent Lis ...
for the state elections in Thuringia on 1 September 2024, in which the BSW entered the
Landtag of Thuringia The Landtag of Thuringia is the parliament of the German federal state of Thuringia. It convenes in Erfurt and currently consists of 88 members from five parties. According to the free state's constitution, the primary functions of the Landtag ...
with 15 representatives. With 16th place on the list, Süßmuth became the first substitute. He is committed, among other things, to broad cultural support and strengthening of the independent theatre scene and socio-cultural institutions. For the
2025 German federal election The 2025 German federal election was held in Germany on 23 February 2025 to elect the 630 members of the List of members of the 21st Bundestag, 21st Bundestag, down from 736 in 2021 due to reforms in seat distribution. The 2025 election took plac ...
, he was nominated as a
direct candidate In Germany, a direktmandat ( ''English'': direct mandate) is a parliamentary seat that is won by the candidate who receives the most votes in a constituency in a legislative election. In the mixed-member proportional representation system used in ...
in constituency 192 (
Erfurt – Weimar – Weimarer Land II Erfurt – Weimar – Weimarer Land II is an electoral constituency (German language, German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is ...
). On 26 April 2025 Süßmuth and Katja Wolf were elected chairmen of the BSW
Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...
.


Discography

CDs * '' Schmidt Kowalski: Sinfonie Nr. 4 . Violinkonzert Nr. 2'', mit dem SWR Rundfunkorchester,
Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...
2006 * ''
Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
: Symphonies and Divertimenti'', mit der Sinfonia Classica, Landor Records 2008 * ''
Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...
: Sonaten für Violine und Klavier,'' 2012 * '' Jon Pescevich: At the Edge of Night'', Centaur Records 2018 With the Thüringer Bach Collegium * '' Johann Ernst IV. von Sachsen Weimar Concerti'', Audite 2019 * J''ohann Bernhard Bach'''': Orchestral Suites'', Audite 2019 * ''
Anton Schweitzer Anton Schweitzer (6 June 1735 in Coburg – 23 November 1787 in Gotha (town), Gotha) was a German composer of operas, who was affiliated with Abel Seyler's Seyler theatrical company, theatrical company. He was a child prodigy who obtained the pat ...
: Die Auferstehung Christi & Missa Brevis – Cantata'', Capriccio 2021 * ''VIRTUOSI'', Audite 2021 * ''
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...
: Weihnachtsoratorium'', 2021 * ''
Locatelli Locatelli is a Lombard surname. Geographical distribution As of 2014, 66.7% of all known bearers of the surname ''Locatelli'' were residents of Italy (frequency 1:1,705), 15.9% of Brazil (1:24,007), 9.5% of France (1:13,015), 2.7% of Argentina (1: ...
: Introduttioni teatrali'', Audite 2023 With the Petersen Quartet * ''
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
: Streichquartette C-Moll Op. 18/4 und A-Moll Op. 132'', Capriccio 1986 * ''
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
: 3 preußische Quartette'', Capriccio 1992 * ''Beethoven: Streichquartette Op. 59/2 , Op. 95'', Capriccio 1993 * ''
Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of N ...
/
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 ...
, Streichquartett''e, Capriccio 1993 * ''
Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and '' galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major classic ...
: Streichquartette'', Capriccio 1993 * ''
Boris Blacher Boris Blacher (30 January 1975) was a German composer and librettist. Life Blacher was born when his parents (of German-Estonian and Russian backgrounds) were living within a Russian-speaking community in the Manchurian town of Niuzhuang () (h ...
: Streichquartette'', EDA 1994 * ''Mozart: 6 Streichquartette „Haydn-Quartette“'', Capriccio 1994 * ''
Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( ; ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...
,
Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...
,
Henri Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer of late 20th-century classical music. Among the leading French composers of his time, his work was rooted in the Impressionistic style of Debussy and R ...
'', Capriccio 1994 * ''
Erwin Schulhoff Erwin Schulhoff (; 8 June 189418 August 1942) was an Austro-Czech composer and pianist. He was one of the figures in the generation of European musicians whose successful careers were prematurely terminated by the rise of the Nazi regime in Germ ...
: String Quartet, String Sextet, Violin Sonata, Duo For Violin And Cello'', Capriccio 1995 (Deutscher Schallplattenpreis) * ''Beethoven: Streichquartette F-Dur Op. 18/1 und Cis-Moll Op. 131'', Capriccio 1995 (Grand Prix Académie Chartes Cros, Editor’s Choice des Gramophone und der Preis Choc 1995 von Le Monde de la Musique) * ''Franz Schubert:
Der Tod und das Mädchen "" (, "Death and the Maiden"), 531; Op. 7, No. 3, is a lied composed by Franz Schubert in February 1817. It was published by Cappi Diabelli in Vienna in November 1821. The text is derived from a poem written by German poet Matthias Clau ...
/ Siegfried Matthus: Das Mädchen und der Tod'', Capriccio 1998 (Echo Preis) * ''Beethoven: Streichquartett Op. 130 / Grosse Fuge Op. 133'', Capriccio 1999 * ''Chamber Music: Beethoven,
Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of N ...
,
Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...
'', Capriccio 1999 * ''
Karl Amadeus Hartmann Karl Amadeus Hartmann (2 August 1905 – 5 December 1963) was a German composer. A major figure of the musical life of post-war Germany, he has been described as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century. Life Born in Munich, the son ...
: Funebre'',
ECM ECM may refer to the following: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Lenstra's Elliptic curve method for factor ...
2000 * ''
Milhaud Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...
,
Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
, Chausson, Lekue: Songs & Chamber Music'', Capriccio 2001 (Echo Preis)


External links

* *
Website of Gernot Süßmuth


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Süßmuth, Gernot Living people 1963 births Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar Concertmasters German violinists 20th-century German musicians 21st-century German musicians Musicians from Thuringia Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht politicians