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The German choral conductor, organist, pianist and harpsicordist, Ulrich Grosser, received piano and organ lessons since early childhood. He completed his comprehensive studies in the field of musicin Aachen and at the State Academy of Music in Westphalia-Lippe. In addition to qualifying for the examination for church musicians and concert examination in organ, he received solid training as a harpsichordist and conductor and occupied himself intensively with the study of early music.
Ulrich Grosser began his extensive concertizing already in 1967. He has conducted orchestras and played the piano, organ and harpsichord internationally since 1968. He has conducted such orchestras as: the German Bach Orchestra, Westphalian Symphony Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Cologne Chamber Musicians' Orchestra, New Rhineland Chamber Orchestra, Vivaldi Ensemble Bremen, Dortmund Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Heidelberg Cantata Orchestra, Philharmonia Hungarica, Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the Bratislava Academy of Music, and Lower Silesia Philharmonic State Orchestra.
Ulrich Grosser was Principal Conductor of the Lower Silesia Philharmonic State Orchestra from 1999 to 2002. Since his appointment as Principal Conductor of the Oistrakh Philharmonic Orchestra Brussels in 2003, he has led the orchestra in numerous international concert festivals in Europe, Israel, and the USA (most recently with triumphal success during a Spanishtour on the occasion of the Yehudi Menuhin Festival) and have never failed to convince his reviewers. Particularly noteworthy are the following: the Israel Festival, Jerusalem; the Edinburgh International Festival, Scotland; the International Silesia Festival, Poland; the Estonia-Latvia Festival, Tallinn & Riga; the Tuscany Festival, Italy; the Flanders Festival, Belgium; the Yehudi Menuhin Festival, Spain; the Berlin Bachtage; the Heidelberger Bachwoche; the Carintian Summer, Austria; etc.
In 1994 Ulrich Grosser became the Artistic Director of the German Edvard Grieg Congresses and, in the same year, he was appointed Professor by the International Society of Professors in London in recognition of his numerous musical activities, in particular his promotion of talented young international musicians. Since 1995 he has also worked together with the Chopin Academy, Warsaw, the Karl Lipinsky Academy, Bratislava, and the Catholic Cardinal Wyszynski University, Warsaw.
The year 2004 saw the beginning of Ulrich Grosser's close cooperation with the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. Ulrich Grosser was the initiator and artistic director of the Münster Penderecki Festival 2006, which was held in remembrance of the fortieth anniversary of the first performance of Penderecki's Passion according to St Luke. Out of their friendship grew another project, namely the transcription of a series of Penderecki's compositions for organ, premiered in April 2008 with Ulrich Grosser on the organ. He is particularly devoted to Polish and Jewish composers who died in the Holocaust or survived the Nazi concentration camps.
Ulrich Grosser's increasingly expanding tasks and his continuously advancing artistic accomplishments enabled him to encounter even as a young man world famous artists. He has gained international recognition through his artistic cooperation with artists such as Agnes Giebel, Karl Ridderbusch, Christoph Prégardien, Frans Brüggen, Sibylla Rubens, James Taylor, Phillip Langshaw, Hellmut Schneidewind and numerous others, above all Igor Oistrakh and Valery Oistrakh.
He has brought out over fifty CD's, radio and TV recordings with oratories, orchestral works, organ and chamber music, which magnificently prove Ulrich Grosser's commitment to authenticity and his genuine sensitivity. These recordings were enthusiastically welcomed by music lovers and received excellent press reviews. |
