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The German conductor, Heinz-Rüdiger Drengemann, began his musical career with studies of church music in Bremen. During this time he became Kantor at the local St. Magni-Kirche and was a lecturer for artistic organ playing at the Musikhochschule in Hannover. In addition, he served as operating assistant of several newspapers and radio stations (including Radio Bremen and RIAS Berlin). In 1977 he became music editor of the Süddeutsche Rundfunk in Stuttgart. In 1979 he became Kantor at the Mannheim Konkordienkirche, which he held until 2006.
Heinz-Rüdiger Drengemann founded, among other things, Konkordien-Kantorei Mannheim and the internationally known, Mannheimer Vokalisten, Barock-Ensemble Mannheim and the Neue Mannheimer Hofkapelle. From 1986 he was also director of the Großen Chores der Universität Heidelberg, with which he has sustained success, and has performed almost all the popular oratorios of the choral repertoire.
As a conductor of numerous professional ensembles (including Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester, Kammerphilharmonie Mannheim, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Neue Mannheimer Hofkapelle and Tokyo Bach Kantate Ensemble), Heinz-Rüdiger Drengemann has celebrated successes at home and abroad. He has done concert tours in most European countries and Japan, where he performed J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion (BWV 245) and Mass in B minor (BWV 232) with the Schola Cantorum Tokyo on historical instruments. Previously, he had established himself as one of the first in the Rhine-Neckar region in the field of early music preferring the use of historical instruments to traditional performance. He received nation-wide attention by being the initiator of the Internationalen Festwoche Alter Musik Mannheim. His work as conductor and organ soloist is documented on numerous radio, television and LP/CD recordings, especially in the field of romantic and symphonic music.
Heinz-Rüdiger Drengemann musical personality is characterised mainly by his musical understanding and his unconventional ideas. His stylistically accurate and composer oriented interpretations make him an exceptional and outstanding musician.
In the spring of 2006, Heinz-Rüdiger Drengemann was appointed music director of the Heidelberg University. In this capacity he teaches music at the scientific seminar for harmony and counterpoint and as conductor of the Collegium Musicum is responsible for the entire university musical activities. At the same time he conducts the two representative sound bodies of the University: the orchestra and the Großen Chor (Great Choir). |
