Martin Lücker (Organ)

Born: October 11, 1953 - Preußisch Oldendorf, Germany

The German organist, Martin Lücker, studied with the legendary Anton Heiller in Vienna. He also studied with Wolfgang Auler. He won four prizes in international organ competitions, laying the foundation for an extensive career as concert organist, competition juror, editor and teacher of master classes.

While J.S. Bach forms the touchstone of Martin Lücker's work and career, his repertoire is kaleidoscopically varied. He has worked as repetiteur and conductor at the opera houses of Detmold and Frankfurt. He has arranged Bach's Die Kunst der Fuge (BWV 1080) for brass ensemble. And his organ repertoire ranges from early music to the great masterpieces of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Martin Lücker is organist at the Katharinenkirche in Frankfurt. His innovatively-programmed "30 minutes of organ music", twice-weekly concerts in the Katharinenkirche in Frankfurt's buzzing city centre, have become something of an institution. And in more than 2,200 such concerts over the past 20 years, audiences have had an unrivalled opportunity to hear an unparalled repertoire of organ music played on the Katharinenkircheís famous Rieger Organ.

Martin Lücker has performed concerts in numerous countries in Europe and North America. He has played on organs in great concert halls, such as the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, as well as in the Philharmonic halls of Dortmund, Essen and Cologne. And he has also performed on great church organs, such as those in Merseburg cathedral and in St. Sulpice in Paris. He has performed with such orchestras as the NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Tonhalle Orchestra of Düsseldorf, Museumsorchester of Frankfurt, Young German Philharmonic and Ensemble Modern. His extensive knowledge also means he is very much in demand and respected as a communicator and lecturer at workshop concerts, matinees, and pre-concert talks.

As professor for organ at Frankfurt's Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (college of music and the performing arts), Martin Lücker is able to pass on his artistic experience, his deep knowledge and his love of music to his students.

Numerous recordings attest to his exceptional musical personality, including "Scales from Weimar" and "Late Works from the Leipzig Period" (Hänssler Edition), both of which sparked heated debate for the new ground they broke in Bach interpretation.

Martin Lücker has long been regarded as one of the most distinctive and distinguished organists around today. The Canadian daily La Presse detected in his playing the "breath of a great organist" and the German daily Stuttgarter Zeitung wrote of his "thrilling emotionality".

Source: Martin Lücker Website
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (October 2007)

Complete Bach's Organ Works on Hänssler: Recordings
Short Biographies: Bine Katrine Bryndorf | Pieter van Dijk | Kay Johannsen | Martin Lücker | Andrea Marcon | Wolfgang Zerer
Reviews: Early Bach Organ Works from Andrea Marcon (A. Marcon) | “Scales from Weimar” (M. Lücker) | Five Recordings of Bach’s Orgelbüchlein (W. Zerer) | Bach Organ Transcriptions from Pieter van Dijk (P.v. Dijk) | Three Recent Recordings of Bach's Leipzig Chorales: Part 1 | Part 2 (B.K. Bryndorf) | “Late Organ Works from the Leipzig Period” (M. Lücker) | Bach’s Trio Sonatas for Organ from Johannsen and Lippincott (K. Johannsen) | Bach Great Organ Mass by Kay Johannssen (K. Johannsen)

Links to other Sites

Martin Lücker - Organist (Official Website)
Musik in St. Katharinen: Martin Lücker [German]

Martin Lücker (Wikipedia) [German]
Lehrende - Einzelansicht : Prof Martin Lücker (HFDMK Frankfurt) [German]