Wilhelm Pommerien (Bass)

Born: 1932 - Germany
Died: June 18, 2004 - Bad Salzuflen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

The renowned singer, Wilhelm Pommerien, was discovered at the end of the 1950's by Professor Dr. Wilhelm Ehmann, who was the head of the Westfälischen Landeskirchenmusikschule (now the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik Herford). After Pommerien had passed the exam for part-time church musicians in Herford in 1961, he studied singing with Professor Maria Friesenhausen in Essen up to the concert exam.

Parallel to his training, Wilhelm Pommerien received a lectureship for singing in Herford in 1961 and was responsible as a voice trainer for the Westfälische Kantorei founded by Wilhelm Ehmann in 1948. With this ensemble, he performed as a bass soloist in countless concerts, including on tours in Asia and the USA, where one of the trips undertaken in the 1960's was still dedicated to thanks for the American help after World War II. More than 40 recordings testify to the solo activities, several of which have been awarded international prizes. two with the Dutch Edison Prize.

Several hundred students were trained in singing by Wilhelm Pommerien at the Herforder Hochschule. In 1991 he received a professorship. In 1997 he retired at the age of 65. He was heard in Herford in one of his last public appearances in the mid-1990's with the role of Elias in Felix Mendelssohn's oratorio of the same name. He spent the last years of his life in Bad Salzuflen. He died on June 18, 2004 after a long illness.

Sources:
German obituary, English translation by Aryeh Oron (March 2021)
Contributed by Sebastian Thieme (March 2021)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Wilhelm Ehmann

Bass

BWV 4, BWV 37, BWV 76, BWV 182
[CR-2] (1965, Radio recording): BWV 2
[CR-17] (1965, Radio recording): BWV 17
[CR-115] (1965, Radio recording): BWV 115

Hans Heintze

Bass

[CR-4] (1967, Radio recording): BWV 4
[CR-68] (1969, Radio recording): BWV 68

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