Download Biography Choirmaster Johannes Prinz

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Johannes Prinz
His upbringing, as one of five children in a teacher’s family, was influential in his
most formative years. Johannes Prinz, born 1958 in Wolfsberg (Carinthia), came
into contact with music early, as his father, a music teacher and composer, dealt
with it on a daily basis. More important for the growing boy was not the specific
musical education but art in its widest sense – an approach of basic importance to
Johannes Prinz and which still determines his own artistic and pedagogic work
today.
At the age of nine he became a member of the Vienna Boys’ Choir, singing
soprano solos while on the choir’s international tours, and finding in Ferdinand
Grossmann an important teacher, who influenced his future as much as Erwin
Ortner, who gave him private tuition in choir conducting.
His academic education was at the University of Music and Performing Arts in
Vienna, graduating with honours in Music and Instrumental Education and the
Teaching of Singing. He also studied conducting here under Karl Österreicher.
As a singer in the Arnold Schönberg Choir and the ORF (Austrian Radio) Choir
he carried on working closely with Erwin Ortner. After working as choir master
assistent of the Arnold Schönberg Choir, in 1982 Johannes Prinz first took over
the artistic direction of his “own” choir. Out of the newly formed Choir of the
Vienna University of Economics and Business (short name W.U.Chor) he created
an ensemble, which within a short period of time, had an international name and
won first prizes at international competitions. He remained with this choir ten
years, with tours as far away as Australia and the Far East.
In 1988 he took over the artistic direction of the Chamber Choir of the Vienna
Music University, with which he worked successfully a further ten years and in
1995 won the first prize in the International Chamber Choir Competition in
Marktoberdorf (Germany). From 1995 to February 2007 he was artistic director
of the Vienna Chamber Choir.
In 1991 the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien engaged him as choir master
of the Wiener Singverein. Under the direction of Johannes Prinz the choir has reestablished its reputation as one of the top international concert choirs: concerts
with leading orchestras and the world’s best conductors being evidence of this, as
well as invitations to festivals, international tours and awards for recordings – as
recently with the Grammy Award for the recording of Mahler’s 3rd symphony
under Pierre Boulez with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ladies
Choir of the Wiener Singverein.
As a guest conductor, Johannes Prinz undertook, among other projects, the choir
rehearsals of the Bavarian Radio Choir for a concert project with Riccardo Muti,
In 1998 he conducted the European Youth Choir and in 2003 (together with Maria
Guinand/ Venezuela) the World Youth Choir. Furthermore he worked with choirs
in Belgium, Germany, Danmark, Switzerland, Singapore and Lithuania as a guest
conductor.
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Hand in hand with his artistic work, Johannes Prinz developed his educational
activities. He founded, and for ten years directed the ”Vokalwoche” Wolfsberg. As
a sought after lecturer at international and national choir master courses. In 1985
Johannes Prinz got a contract as a lecturer at the Vienna Music University. In
2000 he was appointed Professor for Choir Conducting at the University of Music
and Dramatic Arts Graz.
In recent years Johannes Prinz has been making his mark as a conductor, whereby
choral/orchestral works (including Haydn's "The Creation", Bruckner's"Mass in
D-minor" and the "Te Deum", Bach's "St John Passion", Mendelssohn's "Elijah"
plus works by Arvo Pärt, Wolfram Wagner and Wolfgang Sauseng) as well as
symphonic works were on the programs. He has appeared with the Vienna
Symphony Orchestra, the RSO Vienna, the Capella Istropolitana, the Capella
Leopoldina, the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Philharmonie, the Vienna ConcertVerein and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.
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