|
The German bass and choral conductor, Jan Altmann, was introduced to music in his most recent childhood in the Kurrende of the Kantorei Schwarzenberg. The result was a desire to become a choirmaster in the world-famous Dresdner Kreuzchor - he attended the Kreuzschule in Dresden. The intense musical rehearsals, working with choirmasters such as Professor Martin Flämig and concert tours to Japan and Canada shaped his love of music. Also first conducting lessons and the work as choral prefect in this choir should be influential for his profession. He studied choir and orchestra conducting, piano, arranging and composition at the Dresdner Musikhochschule, with teachers as teaching ao. Professor Hans-Christoph Rademann (currently head of the RIAS-Kammerchor Berlin), Professor Ekkehard Klemm, Matthias Brauer. As a longtime assistant to the Dresdner Kammerchor, he gained valuable experience during his studies. Collaborations with choirs and orchestras, such as Dresdner Barockorchester or La Stagione Frankfurt or Concerto Köln, and conductors as Paul McCreesh, René Jacobs and Michael Schneider consolidated his sound ideas of choral singing. He also attended master-classes with Prof. Helmuth Rilling, Siegfried Kurz, Sir Colin Davis, E. Klemm, Lutz Herbig. His role model and teacher was Professor Hans-Christoph Rademann, from whom he received a comprehensive education and valuable practical tips: the secret of how a sentence of notes and words becomes a soulful interpretation.
Assistants also joined Jan Altmann with the Philharmonischen Chor Dresden and the Chor der Hochschule für Musik. From 2002 he was employed at the Oper in Leipzig as a choir assistant, solo recitalist and director of the children's choir. Working with children opened his eyes to the naturalness of choral singing on the one hand - on the other hand, it was a special task to make clear the quality characteristics of good music for all ages. From the children's choir to the opera choir: as of 2005, Jan Altmann moved to the Theater Görlitz as choir director. In the historic building of the theater, which is affectionately known as the "kleine Semperoper", operas such as W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, A Masked Ball or even operettas, such as Gräfin Mariza, The Flower of Hawai and the musical Kiss Me Kate were perfomed under his direction. From September 2009 to 2012, he worked as choral director and Kapellmeister at the Landestheater Innsbruck (Tirol); under his direction Der Vogelhändler, Lucia di Lammermoor, A Night in Venice and W.A. Mozart's Idomeneo.
Freelance activities as a conductor combined Jan Altmann with various orchestras in the Saxon region, such as with the Elblandphilharmonie Riesa. As a pianist and singer in various freelance ensembles, he fulfilled the dream of making music in smaller ensembles ranging from Renaissance and Baroque to modern music, salon music and jazz, and as a choir director he was guest at the WDR Rundfunkchor Köln and the Choer de Radio France Paris, among others. He is currently active throughout Germany as freelance artist, versatile collaboration with ensembles and artists as a pianist, singer, arranger and composer, educator, mainly in Schwarzenberg and Berlin.
From 2000 to 2005, Jan Altmann taught at the Hochschule für Musik Dresden in the subjects of ensemble conducting and choral singing, instruction of private pupils. In 2007, he successfully participated in the Erich Kalman competition in Budapest. In 2013, he was responsible for the artistic programming and organization of the Day of Saxony in cooperation with the directorship of the city of Schwarzenberg |
