Rainer van Husen (Tenor)

Born: Fulda, Hesse, Germany

The German tenor, Rainer van Husen, was announced at 13 years of age as a boy soprano in a newspaper advertisement for the children of the Städtischen Bühnen Münster (Municipal Theater Munster) and deserved his first pocket money with small roles in the operas Boris Godunov (Mussorgsky) and La Bohème (Puccini). Since then he could not get rid of the singing. Other stations include the Schulchor des Ratsgymnasiums, the Kirchenchor Hl. Kreuz, and the Domchor Münster, where he worked as a soloist in his first solo radio broadcast at a church service in Germany from the Cathedral of Munster. Numerous broadcasting engagements followed soon. In a Domchorkonzert he sang with professional soloists, and with the Cantus Ensemble Münster, a solo vocal quartet, he "discovered" the ensemble singing.

Rainer van Husen received his vocal training with Trude Liedtke-Epping (Münster) and Hermann Firchow (Bielefeld). The latter was a colleague of the famous Kammersänger Professor Hans Hotter and this supported by a music cassette of the lyric tenor, resulted in an invitation in 1979 to Hans Hotter's master-class for Lieder singing in Vienna, where he immediately jumped into the final concert and the diploma awarded by the Viennese master-classes.

Since then Rainer van Husen has an active concert career in Germany as well as in other European countries, including at the Kasseler Musiktage with Robert Holl, Helmut Deutsch and Leonard Hokanson. The renowned soprano Agnes Giebel - who met him as a guest singer in a concert in Paris - suggested him working with the Kammersänger Heinz Hoppe in Denmark. Since 1986 he participated in numerous concerts at the Tvind Christmas and New Year’s Concerts in Denmark - in Copenhagen, Helsingør, Fredericia and Vejle. Meanwhile, he worked with Theo Altmeyer, Raimund Gilvan and Adalbert Kraus. He participated repeately at the International Music Festival in Sydney, the Eckelshausener Musiktagen and the Juni-Musiktagen Kinzigtal.

Rainer van Husen has appeared in radio and TV broadcasts and has recorded several LP's and CD's. has participated in numerous radio and television productions. Especially the romantic Lied repertoire is close to his heart. The major Lieder cycles of Schubert and Schumann found in his interpretation repeated popularity among the concert audience. He is also highly esteemed as singer of sacred choral works, Passions and Masses from J.S. Bach to contemporary composers. He is much in demand for collaboration with many German choirs for his eloquent singing.

Besides his solo work, Rainer van Husen has demonstrated not infrequently his pedagogical skills, and also maintains the ensemble singing. He has now retired from his position as a school principal at Geschwister Scholl Realschule in Emsdetten near Münster in Germany, so now he has more time to pursue his career as a singer.

Source: Rainer van Husen Website & Die Eckelshausener Musiktage Website (2006), English translation by Aryeh Oron (July 2009); Nytårskoncert Tvind Website (2008)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (July 2009)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Ansgar Schönecker

Tenor

BWV 248/1-3

Links to other Sites

Rainer van Husen (Official Website)

Nytårskoncert Tvind 2008 [PDF]
Die Eckelshausener Musiktage: Rainer van Husen [German]