James Allen Gähres (born August 5, 1943 in

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

) is an American

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

, based in Germany.

Biography

Gähres studied

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

, conducting,

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature * Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

at the

Peabody Conservatory of Music The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869), ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, where he was musical assistant of the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in his final study year, and as a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

-Fellowship holder with Hans Swarovsky at the University of Music and Performing Arts

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He attended

Master class A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are being developed. "Masterclass" is als ...

es with

Bruno Maderna Bruno Maderna (21 April 1920 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian conductor and composer. Life Maderna was born Bruno Grossato in Venice but later decided to take the name of his mother, Caterina Carolina Maderna.Interview with Maderna‘s thr ...

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

. Gähres began his conducting career began after several years as a freelance composer and pianist in southern Germany. He worked as a

at several

opera house An opera house is a theater (structure), theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a Stage (theatre), stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venu ...

s in Germany, including 10 years as first ''Kapellmeister'' at the

Staatsoper Hannover Hanover State Opera (german: Staatsoper Hannover) is an opera company in Hanover, the state capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. The company is resident in the Hanover Opera House (), and is part of a publicly-funded umbrella performing arts orga ...

. Then he was engaged as the first conductor at the

Staatstheater Braunschweig The Staatstheater Braunschweig is a theatre company and opera house in Braunschweig, Germany, presenting and producing music theatre (opera, operetta, musical), Tanztheater, theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences and concerts. The ''Staatstheater ...

for three years. His work in Germany included conducting the German premiere of

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

's ''

Candide ( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, Th ...

'', in the Scottish Opera version, at the

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the D ...

, at the invitation of

Götz Friedrich Götz Friedrich (4 August 1930 in Naumburg, Germany – 12 December 2000 in Berlin, Germany) was a German opera and theatre director. He was a student and assistant of Walter Felsenstein at the Komische Oper Berlin in (East) Berlin, where he w ...

. He also worked regularly with the Lower Saxony Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Saarland on concert tours, in Israel, Spain, the United States, France, Great Britain and Canada.Landes-Jugend-Symphonie-Orchester-Saa
"Bisherige Dirigenten"
Retrieved 13 May 2016. James A

From 1994 to 2011, Gähres was ''Generalmusikdirektor'' (General Music Director, GMD) at the Theater Ulm, which also encompassed the post of chief conductor of the Ulm Philharmonic Orchestra. During his Ulm tenure, Gähres founded the tradition of the New Year's concerts and of the

Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, wi ...

Memorial concerts. He recorded more than 15 CDs as chief conductor in Ulm. James A

Selected discography

* Selections from '

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...

' by

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

; Ulm Philharmonic. Conductor: James Allen Gähres. EAN 4019981662127 * ''Symphony concerts''; Angela Denoke (soprano), Tamás Füzesi (violin), Ulm Philharmonic. Conductor: James Allen Gähres. EAN 4019981662080 * '' Johann Strauß 1899–1999;

An der schönen blauen Donau "The Blue Danube" is the common English title of "An der schönen blauen Donau", Op. 314 (German for "By the Beautiful Blue Danube"), a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866. Originally performed on 15 Februa ...

- Neujahrskonzerte''; Ulm Philharmonic. Conductor: James Allen Gähres. EAN 4019981662097 * ''Christmas concert''; Ulm Philharmonic. Conductor: James Allen Gähres. EAN 4019981662141 * ''Great moments Vol. 1, First Live Recordings of Carmen-Suite, Self-portrait and Two tangos by Albéniz by

Rodion Shchedrin Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin ( rus, Родион Константинович Щедрин, , rədʲɪˈon kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ɕːɪˈdrʲin; born 16 December 1932) is a Soviet and Russian composer and pianist, winner of USSR Sta ...

''; Ulm Philharmonic. Conductor: James Allen Gähres. EAN 4019981662202 * ''Angela Denoke: Singer of the Year 1999 - a reminiscence of the years in Ulm''; Angela Denoke (soprano), Ulm Philharmonic. Conductor: James Allen Gähres. EAN 4019981662134 * Requiem (K. 626) and the

Maurerische Trauermusik The ' (''Masonic Funeral Music'') in C minor, K. 477 (K. 479a), is an orchestral work composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1785 in his capacity as a member of the Freemasons. History Mozart's own entry into his catalogue under the heading "Ju ...

(K. 477) by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

; Ulmer Kantorei, Ulm Philharmonic. Conductor: James Allen Gähres. EAN 4019981662172 * Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 73 by

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

and the Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 by

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

; Ulm Philharmonic. Conductor: James Allen Gähres. EAN 4019981662110 * Beethoven:

Coriolan Overture The ''Coriolan Overture'' (german: link=no, Coriolan-Ouvertüre or Ouvertüre zu Coriolan), Op. 62, is a composition written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1807 for Heinrich Joseph von Collin's 1804 tragedy ''Coriolan''. The structure and themes ...

, Op. 62 and the Symphony No. 5, Op. 67; Ulm Philharmonic. Conductor: James Allen Gähres. EAN 4019981662103

References

External links

* * Portrai
James Allen Gähres, Generalmusikdirektor, Theater UlmPortrait of James Allen Gähres
on the Kultiversum website
Short portrait James A. Gähres
on the Theatre Ulm Archives website
James Allen Gähres
at YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Gahres, James Allen American male conductors (music) 20th-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American conductors (music) Peabody Institute alumni University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni Music directors Music directors (opera) 20th-century American composers American male classical composers American classical composers Musicians from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania American expatriate musicians American expatriates in Germany 1943 births Living people 20th-century American pianists American male pianists Classical musicians from Pennsylvania 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians