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The German organist and harpsichordist and conductor, Jörg Halubek, had studied with Jon Laukvik and Robert Hill in Stuttgart and Freiburg, before specialising in Early Music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He completed his studies with distinction in organ, harpsichord and basso continuo with Andrea Marcon, Jesper Christensen and Jörg-Andreas Bötticher. In 2002 he was awarded Scholarships by the Study Foundation of the German People and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). “In Jörg Halubek I see one of most remarkable harpsichord players among young professional musicians.” (Robert Hill). Jörg Halubek was awarded First Prize at the 14th International Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Competition in Leipzig, 2004. “Intellectual and musical values are in the foreground of the Bach competition. It's all about a synthesis of the most noble concepts of art” (Robert Levin, president of the competition).
Following that success Jörg Halubek accepted invitations to Bachfest Leipzig, Bachwoche Ansbach and Aschaffenburg Bach Festival, and was also asked to perform at the International Musical Festival Olympus Moscow/ St. Petersburg, Ludwigsburg Castle Festival, International Organ Festival in Treviso (Italy) and the International Händel Festival in Göttingen. Furthermore he gave organ concerts in Oslo, Parma, Basle, Lübeck, at the Gewandhaus and St. Thomas-Church in Leipzig, at the Westminster Cathedral, London on the romantic Willis organ, and at Chester Cathedral. Among his most enriching experiences were concerts on preserved Silbermann and Hildebrandt organs in Germany. At the moment he is devoting himself to the performance of J.S. Bach's complete organ works spread across fourteen consecutive Sundays, finishing in March 2007. “… excellent regarding the musical presentation, the interpretation, and also regarding the technical tasks…” (Helmuth Rilling commenting on Halubek's fourth concert of the Bach cycle in Stuttgart).
Jörg Halubek played Bach's Concertos for harpsichord with the Venice Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Andrea Marcon at the European Music Festival Stuttgart. He also played with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the State Orchestra of Stuttgart. In the season of 2007 he can be heard in the Stuttgart Ballet production of ‘KLANG-KÖRPER’ playing Francis Poulenc's Organ Concerto. In June 2007 he played the solo part of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 (BWV 1050) while on tour in Japan with the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester. “Jörg Halubek developed a sequence that we could only follow breathlessly” (Stuttgarter Zeitung) “…with tempestuous brilliance and a never decreasing dynamic energy” (Marbacher Zeitung).
In the Spring of 2006 Jörg Halubek made a recording with Lajos Lencses of J.S. Bach's Sonata in B minor for oboe and harpsichord for Bayer Records, and in the summer of that year he recorded the complete organ and harpsichord works of Bernardo Storace (Venice 1664) with Southwest German Radio Stuttgart. These latter works he played on two original Italian instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries which form part of the collection of the Württembergische State Museum and the University of Music in Stuttgart. Currently, he is producing a recording entitled “Between geniality and virtuosity - works by the young J.S. Bach”. He performed this same programme during Bachwoche Ansbach 2007, in August. “Jörg Halubek performed the melancholic, lamenting gesture [of J.S. Bach's Chromatic Fantasy, BWV 903] with great intimacy, but without any artificial exaggeration. That's what made the piece a lasting event. You couldn't avoid the sheer flow of sound” (Lausitzer Rundschau, Berlin). In 2008 he founded the Baroque orchestra Il Gusto Barocco. In 2017 he began his project of recording the complete organ works of J.S. Bach for Berlin Classics label, titled "Bach Organ Landscapes".
Jörg Halubek is working towards the restoration of the late romantic organ at the Art Nouveau church in Stuttgart-Gaisburg and oversees a series of concerts there. Since 2003 he has been teaching harpsichord and Historic Performance Practice at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart, and since 2005 has been teaching organ at the University of Music in Karlsruhe. |
