Johannes Kalitzke
Johannes Kalitzke (1959, Cologne) is a German composer of orchestral, chamber, choral, and vocal works. He is also active as a conductor. Kalitzke studied church music from 1974–1976 in Cologne, composition with York Höller, conducting with Wolfgang von der Nahmer, and piano with Aloys Kontarsky at the Musikhochschule Köln from 1978–1981. He studied at IRCAM in 1982–1983, on a scholarship from the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, and also studied composition privately with Vinko Globokar while in Paris and electronic music with Hans Ulrich Humpert at the Musikhochschule Köln at the same time. Among his honors are the Bernd-Alois-Zimmermann-Preis from the City of Cologne (1996) and a scholarship to stay at the Villa Massimo in Rome (2003). Numerous ensembles and orchestras have commissioned him, including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Hamburger Sinfoniker, the London Sinfonietta, and the SWF-Sinfonieorchester. His music theatre work Bericht über den Tod des Musikers Jack Tiergarten was commissioned by the Münchener Biennale, while his opera Molière oder die Henkerdes Komödianten was a commission from the region of Schleswig-Holstein. Active as a conductor since 1984, he is renowned for his interpretations of both classical and new music, with ensembles such as Collegium Novum Zürich, ensemble recherche, Klangforum Wien, and musikFabrik, as well as orchestras in Austria, Germany, and the UK. He served as leader of the Forum für Neue Musik in Gelsenkirchen from 1986–1991 and as conductor of the Musiktheater im Revier in the same city from 1988–1990. He co-founded musikFabrik in 1991 and served as its artistic director and conductor from 1991–1997. He led forums on ensemble conducting at the Deutscher Musikrat in 2001 and at the Salzburger Sommerakademie in 2003. Since 2009, he has been a member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. Edition Gravis published his music from 1982 to 2000. Presently, his music is published by Boosey and Hawkes. He first took part in Ostrava Days as both a conductor and composer in 2011. Since then he has been working closely with the Ostrava Centre for New Music also on the "Essential" concert series in Prague's DOX+.
