Kay Johannsen (Organ, Conductor)

Born: 1961 - Germany

The German organist, harpsichordist, conductor and choir-master, Kay Johannsen, studied in Freiburg and Boston through scholarships awarded to him by the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes and the Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation, New York. He has won a number of prizes at national and international organ competitions, but winning first prize at the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb in 1988 was decisive for his career.

Since 1994 Kay Johannsen has been the choir-master and organist at the Stiftskirche of Stuttgart, where he founded the Stuttgarter Kantorei and Ensemble 94. He also founded the Solistenensemble Stimmkunst in 2003.

Kay Johannsen has performed as an organist at festivals in Europe, Asia, South America, South Africa and the USA. As a continuo player he has performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Claudio Abbado, the Wiener Philharmoniker under Trevor Pinnock, or with Berliner Barock Solisten.

In addition to broadcast recordings, Kay Johannsen has recorded numerous CD's, many of which have received awards. These include works by Bach, Boëly, Johannes Brahms, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Liszt, César Franck, Max Reger, Widor, and Förtig.

Sources:
Carus-Verlag Stuttgart Website
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (October 2007)

Kay Johannsen: Short Biography | Ensembles: Stuttgarter Kantorei | Solistenensemble Stimmkunst | Stiftsbarock Stuttgart
Bach Discography: Recordings of Cantatas: 2012-2015 | Recordings of Cantatas: 2016-2021 | Recordings of Other Vocal Works | Recordings of Instrumental Works | Complete Organ Works on Hänssler
Reviews of Instrumental Recordings: Bach’s Trio Sonatas for Organ from Johannsen and Lippincott
Bach Series: Bach:vokal

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)

Conductor

As

Works

Claudio Abbado

Organ

[V-1] (1999): BWV 232 [continuo]

Use of Chorale Melodies in his works

Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier, improvisation for organ (CM: Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier) (2005)

Links to other Sites

Carus-Verlag Stuttgart: Kay Johannsen
Kay Johannsen (Wikipedia) [German]