16 July 2017 at 20:00

Ansgar Wallenhorst, organ (Germany)

ANSGAR WALLENHORST is director of music at Saint Peter and Paul's Church in Ratingen and a prizewinner of the 42nd Haarlem improvisation competition, and he is one of the most distiguished improvisers of his generation. He has performed in more than twenty countries in Europe, North America, Russia, Asia and Australia. A native of Duisburg, Ansgar Wallenhorst pursued his music degree at the Hochschule für Musik in Würzburg, where he studied organ and improvisation, piano, music theory and composition. He subsequently took his master class diploma (Master of Arts) at the age of 25. He broadened his improvisation skills with Thierry Escaich, Olivier Latry and Jean Guillou, and he also took up the study of theology and philosophy in Münster and Paris. Under his artistic leadership the Orgelwelten Ratingen has become one of Germany's finest venues for organ culture, including an international festival as well as education programmes, scholarships and commissions. He is a mentor and teacher of individual students, and he is regularly invited as a jury member of competitions (Angers, Strassbourg, Haarlem, Schwaebisch-Gmünd) and to give masterclasses and lectures in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.