Lutz Köhler studied bassoon, piano, composition, and conducting at the Academy of Music and Theater in Hannover, where he subsequently spent 25 years as a professor and temporarily held the position of Vice President. In 1999 he accepted an appointment at the University of the Arts in Berlin to offer a class in conducting as well as to lead the University’s symphony orchestra. Recently he assumed an additional professorship in conducting at the Escuela Superior de Música de Catalunya in Barcelona. The educational focus of Lutz Köhler’s activities has brought him into contact with numerous youth orchestras: For more than a quarter century he served as one of the directors of the European Community Youth Orchestra, with which he maintains a connection as honorary musical advisor; in addition he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He is further dedicated to cultivating up-and-coming musical talent through his work as an advisor and jury member for the International Music Competition of the ARD broadcast network. Lutz Köhler has conducted such leading German orchestras as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Frankfurt and Saarbrücken, and the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared as guest artist at the Festivals in Dresden, Berlin, and Gstaad, as well as in Aldeburgh, Seville, and Miami. He has been invited to perform with the Berlin University of the Arts Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow and Edinburgh and at the Vienna Konzerthaus. Lutz Köhler gives master classes around the world; many of his students have won prizes at prestigious competitions and hold prominent positions in today’s musical life. Köhler also regularly collaborates with brass ensembles, in particular with Hessian Radio Brass Ensemble, with whom he has recorded ten CDs.
LUCERNE FESTIVAL debut on 17 August 2010 Lutz Köhler conducted the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA Brass Ensemble in works by Tchaikovsky, Berg, and Prokofiev.
August 2011