Michael Gläser (born 2 November 1957) is a German singer, choral conductor and academic teacher. He was artistic director of broadcasters' choirs including the

Rundfunkchor Berlin The Rundfunkchor Berlin (Berlin Radio Choir) is a professional German classical choir founded in 1925. In the 1950s the choir was divided into the Berliner Solistenvereinigung and the Großer Chor des Berliner Rundfunks. These were united as Run ...

and the choir of the

Bayerischer Rundfunk (; "Bavarian Broadcasting"), shortened to BR (), is a public broadcasting, public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Bavaria, Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD (b ...

. He has been professor of choral conducting and Protestant church music at the

Hochschule für Musik und Theater München The University of Music and Theatre Munich (), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts music school, conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is the former ''Führerbau'' of the NSDAP, locate ...

from 1994. Two recordings for which he conducted a choir were nominated for the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

Life

Born in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

(then Karl-Marx-Stadt), Gläser attended the

Thomasschule zu Leipzig St. Thomas School, Leipzig (; ) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools in the world. St. Thomas is known for its art, language and m ...

from 1967 to 1978 where he was a member of the

Thomanerchor The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called ''Thomaner'', reside in a boarding scho ...

. He studied voice with

Heidi Rieß Heidi Rieß (also ''Heidi Rieß-Berthold'', ''Heidi Riess-Berthold'' and ''Heidi Berthold-Rieß'', ''Heidi Berthold-Riess'', 12 May 1943 – 27 May 2022) was a German contralto and music educator. Life Rieß was born in 1943 in Chemnitz as the ...

and

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

with Andreas Pieske,

Wolf-Dieter Hauschild Wolf-Dieter Hauschild (6 September 1937 – 18 May 2023) was a German conductor, choirmaster, artistic director, composer, harpsichordist and university lecturer. After working for the East German Berliner Rundfunk from 1971, he was principal co ...

and Dietrich Knothe at the

Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest music ...

and the

Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

Berlin from 1978 to 1985. He conducted the , the Berliner Singakademie and the

MDR Rundfunkchor MDR Rundfunkchor is the radio choir of the German broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), based in Leipzig, Saxony. Dating back to 1924, the choir became the radio choir of a predecessor of the MDR in 1946, then called Kammerchor des Senders ...

in Leipzig, where he was also active as a singer. In 1986, he became assistant to

Dietrich Knothe Dietrich Knothe (6 January 1929 – 7 September 2000) was a German conductor and choral conductor. He is the winner of the 1985 Handel Prize presented by the city of Halle. Biography Knothe was born in Dresden. At the age of 10, he joined th ...

at the

. From 1990 to 2005 he was artistic director of the . From 1998, the choir held subscription concerts at the

Prinzregententheater The Prinzregententheater, or, as it was called in its first decades, the Prinz-Regenten-Theater, in English the Prince Regent Theatre, is a concert hall and opera house on Prinzregentenplatz in the Bavarian capital of Munich, Germany. Building ...

. He remained a guest conductor of the choir. In 2014, Gläser stepped in for the sick

Thomaskantor (Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, ', describes the two functions of Cantor ( ...

Georg Christoph Biller Georg Christoph Biller (20 September 1955 – 27 January 2022) was a German choral conductor. He conducted the Thomanerchor as the sixteenth Thomaskantor since Johann Sebastian Bach from 1992 to 2015. He was also a baritone, an academic teacher, ...

and led the

as interim cantor for a quarter of a year. During this time, he conducted the weekly ''Motette'' concerts as well as concerts with the

Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

. Since 1994, Gläser has been

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of choral conducting at the

. He is also head of the Department of Protestant Church Music. In 2003, he founded the

Choral Conductors Forum.

Awards

Recordings with Gläser were nominated twice for the

in the category Best Choral Performance, for the

42nd Annual Grammy Awards The 42nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2000, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1999. Nominations were announced on January 4, 2000. Santana was the main ...

in 1999 for Schmidt's ''

Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln ''The Book with Seven Seals'' (''Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln'') is an oratorio in German by the Austrian composer Franz Schmidt, on themes from the biblical Book of Revelation of Saint John. It was completed in 1937 and first presented in 1938 i ...

'', and for the

50th Annual Grammy Awards The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2008. It honored musical achievement of 2007 in which albums were released between October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. The primary ceremonie ...

in 2007 for Schönberg's ''

Gurre-Lieder ' (''Songs of Gurre Castle, Gurre'') is a tripartite oratorio followed by a Melodrama, melodramatic epilogue for five vocal soloists, narrator, three choruses, and grand orchestra. The work, which is based on an early song cycle for soprano, te ...

'', with the Choir of the Bavarian Radio and the MDR Radio Choir Leipzig, conducted by

Howard Arman Howard Arman (born 1954 in London) is an English choral conductor and opera director. He won the Handel Prize of the Handel Festival, Halle, in 1996, shaped the festival's orchestra and conducted operas of George Frideric Handel. He is a conduct ...

.Grammy für Mariss Jansons und das BR-Symphonieorchester
(in German) miz.org 9 February 2006

References

External links

* *
The Bavarian Radio Chorus
BR Chor {{DEFAULTSORT:Glaser, Michael 1957 births German choral conductors Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Munich Living people Musicians from Chemnitz

Life

Awards

References

Further reading

External links