The German counter-tenor, Nils Stefan, gathered his first musical experiences already in his earliest youth in the Choirs of the Tilemannschule in Limburg under the conductors Berthold Egenolf and Richard Moser (1983-1991). In a longtime membership of Limburger Kammerchor and Limburger Domchor the love of singing continued after school. He received particularly formative impulses through the many years of training by Domkapellmeister (cathedral conductor) Hans Bernhard. During this time he received his first singing lessons from Helga Hein-Guardian, later from Martin Winkler, Thomas Möller-Stegemann and Elisabeth Scholl. Concert tours have taken him with the Limburger Domchor to Italy, Austria and Brazil; with Bachchor Mainz to Switzerland, Argentina and Brazil; and with the Kölner Kammerchor to Japan, Russia, France, Italy and Portugal.
Nils Stefan combines a continuous collaboration with a large number of well-known conductors and their ensembles. With Peter Neumann (Kölner Kammerchor (since October 2003) & ChorWerk Ruhr), Ralf Otto (Bachchor Mainz), Christoph Spering (Chorus Musicus Köln, since March 2006) and René Jacobs, Konrad Junghänel, Hans-Christoph Rademann, Reinhard Goebel, Gotthold Schwarz, Wolfgang Seeliger u. a. Here solo performances and demanding ensemble work enjoy equal priority. He has also been a member of Vokalakademie Berlin (Director: Frank Markowitsch,) since January 2011. Frequently projects were documented by radio recordings (NDR, WDR, SWR and ORF), television broadcasts (ARTE) or on CD. With the ensembles mentioned he has performed in concerts in the frame of the Göttinger Händelfestspiele Rheingau-Musik-Festival, Innsbrucker Festwochen für Alte Musik (Chorus member: August 2007-August 2010), Weilburger Schlosskonzerte and many renowned concert halls throughout Europe, Asia and South America.
In the summer of 2004, Nils Stefan took part in a master-class with Kai Wessel as part of the Austria-Barock-Akademie in Gmunden am Traunsee (Austria). In the summer of 2008, he joined another master-class in the frame of the Innsbrucker Festwochen für Alte Musik.
In the coming weeks and months, concerts with oratorios by George Frideric Handel (Solomon and Theodora), works by J.S. Bach as well as a re-performance of Mass by Vincenzo Albrici - today largely unknown contemporary of Heinrich Schütz - are on the program.
Nils Stefan has also worked at RheinMainMedia in Frankfurt (1997-June 2015); Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (since July 2015). |