Volker Hartung is one of the most interesting personalities on the conducting scene today. His unmistakable conducting style and skill in handling orchestras and soloists make him very popular wherever he works.
Born in Cologne in 1955, he began learning the violin and viola at the age of nine.
From 1972 to 1980 he studied the viola and chamber music with Gerard Ruymen at the Cologne Conservatory and College of Music as well as with the Amadeus Quartet, also attending the master classes of Rainer Moog, Gerard Caussé, Bruno Giuranna and Sandor Végh.
He was Principal Violist in the Klassische Philharmonie Telekom in Bonn from 1974 to 1980 and in the Rhenish Chamber Orchestra in Cologne.
American scholarships enabled Hartung to study viola and conducting at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City with Ivan Galamian, Joseph Gingold, Margaret Pardee and the Juilliard Quartet from 1980 to 1982. He continued his studies with Alan de Veritch, William Primrose's assistant at the California Institute of Arts in Los Angeles.
There he was also a member of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra before returning to Germany to complete his studies with Sergiu Celibidache.
Volker Hartung has been Principal Conductor of the Junge Philharmonie Köln since 1986 and has appeared with the Orchestra at numerous International Music Festivals.
Hartung has numerous appearances to his credit as a guest conductor at home and abroad and collaborates closely with the MDR broadcast orchestras, the St.Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the Bulgarian Philharmonic Orchestra in Sofia.
In 2002 Volker Hartung established the European New Philharmonic Orchestra in Luxembourg.
His several decades of experience as an independant, completely unsubsidized head of orchestras have tought him how to form orchestras and make them fiancially viable in the face of various obstacles.
One of his secrets is to perform a very wide ranging, extremely rich repertoire that is absolutely unspecialized and to be flexible enough to switch smoothly to other genres, like film and light music.
since
1986 Principal Conductor of the Cologne New Philharmonic
Orchestra (Junge Philharmonie Köln) Numerous Concert tours with the newly
formed group throughout Europe. Soloistic Training for its young members.
CD-Productions and recordings. Invitations to Festivals in France and Italy
(Bergamo, Cannes, Menton etc.)
1990 Debut
in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall and in Hamburg Music Hall.Beginning of its
tradition of self-managed Symphonic Concerts.
1992 Debut
at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam
1993 Guest
Conducting in Italy. (RAI Neapel and Orchesta Sinfonia di Lecce)
1996 Production
and Broadcast for West-German TV WDR
1997/98 European Tour with British
Violinist Nigel Kennedy.
Production of Leo Delibes’ »Coppelia« at the Opera Cologne
with The Cologne Dance Forum and Jochen Ullrich.
1999 ARD
Radio-Production and Live Broadcast with MDR Mitteldeutsches Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester
at Gewandhaus in Leipzig.
2000 Concert
production at the Sydney Opera House, Australia.
Concert series with MDR-Kammerphilharmonie Leipzig.
CD-Production with St.Petersburg Symphonic Orchestra.
Participation at the Festival de Monte Carlo with Cologne New Philharmonic
Chamber Orchestra.
Guest Conductor at the Philharmonic Szcechin in Poland.
2001 Concert
at Leipziger Gewandhaus with Salonorchester Leipzig, works by Johann Strauß,
Franz von Suppé, Paul Lincke, Fred Raymond, Friedrich Holländer,
Heymann, Georges Boulanger u.a
.
2001 Cologne New
Philharmonic Orchestra plays »Film-and Music« in MDR-Kultur Radio
Leipzig.
2002 Annual
Symphonic Concert Series in Hamburg Musikhalle, Munich Gasteig, Düsseldorf
Tonhalle, Cologne Philharmonie, Liederhalle Stuttgart, Konzerthaus Berlin,
with works by Rossini, Rachmaninoff und Brahms.
2003
Symphonic Concert
Series in Hamburg Musikhalle, Munich Gasteig, Düsseldorf Tonhalle, Cologne
Philharmonie, Liederhalle Stuttgart, Konzerthaus Berlin, Glocke Bremen, Conservatoire
de Luxembourg, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Performed are works by Georges
Bizet, Manuel de Falla and Maurice Ravel.
Participating in Schwangau Festival at Neuschwanstein Castle in Fussen including
Radio Broadcast by Bavarian Radio (Bayrischer Rundfunk).
2004 WDR TV-Production
with Herbert Feuerstein's »Tomorrow's Master Players« at Augustusburg
Castle in Brühl nearby Cologne.
Performance and recording at the Mozart-Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria.
2005 Recordings
and CD-Productions for Gunther Hänssler's Profil-Edition, distributed
world-wide by Naxos Germany.
All Rights Reserved