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Born: April 8, 1943 - Berlin, Germany
Died: April 8, 2013 - Kassel, Hesse, Germany |
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The German conductor, Wolfgang Helbich, studied sacred music and music education at the Berlin and Detmold academies.
Wolfgang Helbich founded the Alsfelder Vokalensemble in 1971, after having been appointed choir director in Alsfeld in 1969, his first such position, and continued to serve as music director of the ensemble until his death.. He moved to the Grünewald Church in Berlin in 1972 and assumed the directorship of the Berliner Kantorei. His appointment as music director at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Bremen came in 1976. His duties included the conducting of the Bremen Cathedral Choir, a choir with a rich musical tradition and the first to perform Johannes Brahms’ German Requiem (under C.M. Reinthaler in 1868).
Wolfgang Helbich made numerous recordings since 1974, most of them with Alsfelder Vokalensemble and three of which were awarded the German Record Prize or German record Critics Prize. As a conductor and as an organist he was involved in broadcasts on almost all the member stations of the ARD (German Radio Network). He appeared as a guest conductor together with the NDR Chor, the RIAS-Kammerchor, and the Münchener Bach-Chor.
Wolfgang Helbich also distinguished himself as an editor of choral and organ music and was appointed Professor of Choral Conducting at the Bremen Academy of the Arts in February 1991. |
