Karl Hochreither

As organist and conductor his concert tours have taken him all over the world. Since the end of the sixties he has been working abroad as an educator. As Artist in Residence he was a guest of the University of Western Ontario in Canada and the "Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music" in Manila. From 1997 to 2007 he was artistic director of the Bach Festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

In addition to his musical and pedagogical activities, he was also active as an author, especially on topics concerning the composer Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1993, the Governing Mayor of Berlin awarded him the title "Professor e.h." in recognition of his "outstanding cultural services to Berlin". In 2002 he was awarded the Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

(LP EMI ELECTROLA, Köln 1974, Stereo 33 Nr. 29 0735 1 A/1B. Karl Hochreither at the Rieger-Orgel der St. Jakobskirche zu Rothenburg o. T. Recording 11 – 13 December 1973. Productor: Gerd Berg. Tonmeister: Johann-Nikolaus Matthes)

Born in Speyer, the son of a carpenter made his first musical experiences as a choir singer under the elementary school teacher and honorary church musician Adolf Graf, who ensured that the gifted boy received a good education on the piano and introduced him to church music in organ lessons, church choir and theory lessons. Hochreither attended the natural science department of the Staatliches Gymmasium Speyer (altsprachlich und naturwissenschaftlich), the present Gymnasium am Kaiserdom [de]. After his Abitur in 1952 he studied German language and literature, history and philosophy at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg and afterwards church music at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, where he became a student of Michael Schneider, with whom he had a lifelong friendship. After completing his studies, Hochreither began working as a cantor in 1959 in Speyer in the office for church music of the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate, which was led by his mentor Graf, who had meanwhile been appointed director of church music. Originally intended as Graf's successor, he moved to the Spandauer Kirchenmusikschule in 1963 as a lecturer for artistic organ playing and taught there until his retirement in 1998. From 1964 to 2001, he was the successor of Hanns-Martin Schneidt and Helmuth Rilling and directed the [Bach-Chor_an_der_Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtniskirche] in Berlin and the Kirchenmusik at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold.

Karl Hochreither (27 October 1933 – 23 October 2018) was a German organist, conductor, music educator and musicologist.