biography

The conductor Frank Markowitsch is a professor for orchestral and choral conducting at the Hochschule for Music in Freiburg, Germany. He has established a reputation for innovative and interdisciplinary concert programming combined with performances of the highest quality.

After studies in philosophy, German literature, and classical civilizations at the Albert Ludwig University Freiburg, Frank Markowitsch studied music education at the University of the Arts Berlin, and finally orchestral and choral conducting at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. Among his teachers were Christian Grube, Rolf Reuter, and Jörg-Peter Weigle. He received important encouragement from Uwe Gronostay and Vladimir Jurowski, and participated in master classes with the RIAS Chamber Choir and the International Bach Academy Stuttgart under Helmuth Rilling.

This richly varied background is reflected in Frank Markowitsch’s projects, in which he combines the highest artistic standards with the results of deep musicological research and current socio-political and philosophical discussions. One particularly striking example of this multi-layered approach is the project “Paradise Reloaded? The Creation in the Anthropocene”, which questions our society’s relationship to the environment against the background of Haydn’s musical celebration of the natural world.

Some years ago, Frank Markowitsch founded two professional ensembles in order to implement his musical ideas: the Prometheus Ensemble Berlin and the Vokalakademie Berlin. The Vokalakademie in particular has achieved international recognition, and has performed together with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, and Le Cercle de l’Harmonie in renowned festivals such as Musikfest Bremen, Klarafestival Brussels, and the Festival de Saint-Denis. The group’s first CD with Alessandro Scarlatti’s “Vespro della Beata Vergine” (for the Rondeau label) was enthusiastically received, and the following recording of Antonio Caldara’s “Salve Regina” was selected for the German Record Critics’ “Best Of” list in January 2017.

For his projects, the conductor strives to collaborate with first-rate partner organizations from a variety of social realms. The Potsdam Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies accompanied the Creation project with a symposium on “Culture and Nature in the Anthropocene”, and the University of the Arts Berlin presented a performance of Alessandro Scarlatti’s “Vespro della Beata Vergine” as part of an international and interdisciplinary symposium on “Baroque Liturgical Settings: Composers, Contexts and Performance Practice”.

From 1998 to 2016, Frank Markowitsch directed the Chorus of the Junges Ensemble Berlin, creating memorable concert projects and winning numerous awards with the group; the choir released their debut CD in 2014: Arthur Honegger’s “King David” (Rondeau). In 2012, Markowitsch was asked by Ton Koopman to be the chorus master of the Amsterdam Baroque Choir, and the choir’s development under his direction has been widely noted.

One of Markowitsch’s important goals is to understand art as an alternative form of knowledge and to pass on his proficiency in this area to the next generation: after five years as Lecturer in Choral Conducting at the University of the Arts Berlin, he was appointed Professor of Choral Conducting at the Hochschule for Music Freiburg. From 2007 to 2010, he directed the Innsbruck Festival Chorus, an academy project of the Innsbruck Festival for Early Music, and in 2013, he was the principal conductor of the Opus XXI Summer Academy for Contemporary Music.

Frank Markowitsch is a co-founder of the Vokalfest Chor@Berlin, and a regular guest at international festivals such as the Potsdam-Sanssouci Music Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, Musikfest Bremen, KlaraFestival Brussels, and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

He works regularly with the RIAS Chamber Choir, North German and West German Radio Choirs, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Choeur du Radio France, Accentus, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Vocalconsort Berlin, and Coro Nacional de España, as well as with orchestras such as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Orquesta Filarmónica de Medellín, the Kammerakademie Potsdam, and Le Cercle de l’Harmonie and many other orchestras. Also close to the heart of this conductor is opera: to date he has been involved in productions at the Berlin Staatsoper, the Opéra Comique in Paris, and the opera houses in Lille and Nancy.

Frank Markowitsch has prepared orchestras and choirs for conductors such as Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa, Ton Koopman, Thomas Hengelbrock, Marc Minkowski, Ingo Metzmacher, Enoch zu Guttenberg, and Jérémie Rhorer. He has a particularly close collaboration with René Jacobs, for whom he prepared the choruses for performances of Monteverdi’s “Vespers” (1610) and “L’Orfeo”, various Mozart opera productions in Europe and Asia, and recordings of “The Magic Flute and La Rappresentatione di Anima et Corpo” (both for harmonia mundi).

(April 2017)

press

Concert Review – von Weber, “Der Freischütz” (as choir master for Laurence Equilbey)

Concert Review – Baroque Project, Part 3

“For an entire semester, Baroque choral music was in the spotlight at the Freiburg Hochschule for Music. The public was encouraged to participate by singing along and even – for the first time – performing in the orchestra, a wonderful and innovative idea from the project’s initiator, Frank Markowitsch, professor for choral direction with a gift for unconventional interdisciplinary projects. … Under Markowitsch’s direction, the choir achieved a unified and transparent sound. … Frank Markowitsch’s evocative conducting style provided the motivating impulse for the performance.”

Badische Zeitung, Alexander Dick, 8 February 2018

Concert Review – Beethoven & Berlioz in Paris

“The Vokalakademie Berlin is particularly characterized by its beautiful sound, which is perfectly tailored to the pieces being performed. … The solemn mood of the Mass was brilliantly sustained by the ensemble from Berlin, made up of exceptionally talented young singers. The Kyrie immediately provided an opportunity for the group to demonstrate an impressive sound quality (almost) without vibrato. The energetic conducting encouraged the visible and contagious enthusiasm of the singers. It is wonderful to hear (and see) a vocal ensemble so clearly motivated to communicate with the audience. … They are capable of astonishing nuances of color, and the tenors deserve special recognition for the passages in masterfully accomplished head voice.”

Ôlyrix Online, Violette Renié, 17 January 2018

“The Vokalakademie Berlin, an ensemble with barely 40 voices, was perfectly suited to this literature, never giving the impression of an unruly crowd threatening to overwhelm the total effect. All the vocal sections of the choir made a flawless and convincing impression.”

ResMusica Online, Vincent Guillemin, 19 January 2018

Concert Reviews – Haydn, “The Creation”

“This evening fulfilled the highest expectations, particularly in the vocal realm: the RIAS Chamber Choir, excellently prepared by Frank Markowitsch, achieved a magnificent level of homogeneity, balance, and maturity of sound. ‘Behold amazed the wondrous work…'”

Badische Zeitung, Alexander Dick, 2 January 2018

“The energy came from the choir – it is almost impossible to describe the perfection, vocal strength, balance, and nuance of the RIAS Chamber Choir, once again outstandingly prepared by Frank Markowitsch.”

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Isabel Herzfeld, 3 January 2018

“The RIAS Chamber Choir, impeccably prepared by Frank Markowitsch, sings the choruses with lightness and joy, but also with masterfully controlled passion.”

Der Tagesspiegel, Ulrich Amling, 3 January 2018

“The RIAS Chamber Choir, prepared by Frank Markowitsch, revealed the music’s multi-faceted dimensions. The choir effortlessly filled the large hall of the Philharmonie, while always retaining transparency of sound; particularly at the more intimate moments, the audience held its breath. Many choirs can sing this piece, but a world-class ensemble like the RIAS Chamber Choir is in a league of its own.”

kulturradio vom rbb, Andreas Göbel, 3 January 2018

Concert Review – Musikfest Bremen (Berlioz, Beethoven)

“The Vokalakademie Berlin is made up of young, enthusiastic, and perfectly trained singers. … The ensemble sang with a finely nuanced and homogeneous sound – with radiant sopranos, sonorous altos, and powerful tenors and basses.”

Kreiszeitung, Ilse Walther, 31 August 2017

Concert Reviews – Mendelssohn, “Lobgesang”

“Conductor Frank Markowitsch led the ensemble with fluid yet decisive gestures. The soloists were well chosen. The audience honored this extraordinary performance with standing ovations.”

Badische Zeitung, Dorothee Philipp, 26 July 2017

“Markowitsch particularly in the purely instrumental first part of the work, allows the musicians to achieve the intimate character of chamber music (arguably of considerable importance in all of Mendelssohn’s symphonies). This has a highly positive effect on the sound quality, wisely avoiding the pitfalls of false pathos or even kitsch.”

Badische Zeitung, Alexander Dick, 5 July 2017

CD reviews – antonio caldara, salve regina

“The youthful sounding voices of the Vokalakademie Berlin are extraordinarily adaptable, and can sound light and graceful as well as formidable and serious.”

Fono Forum, March 2017

“The astonishing 16-voice Crucifixus is an endless cycle of suspensions and unexpected harmonic shifts that eclipses even Lotti’s iconic eight- and 10-voice settings.”

Gramophone, January 2017

“Everything is enchanting on this second CD by the Vokalakademie Berlin.”

Chorzeit, January 2017

“… excellent individual voices that that merge into a unified whole…”

SWR2 Treffpunkt Klassik, December 2016

“The conductor Frank Markowitsch leads his ensemble, the ‘Vokalakademie Berlin’, together with the ‘Bassano Ensemble’ on the wind parts and selected string players from Berlin’s historical performance practice ensembles. The sound is so finely coordinated that one could easily assume that these musicians play together regularly. The ten-year-old vocal ensemble made up of young professional singers has developed a beautifully warm sound that gives the appropriate color to the profound and sometimes dark texts.”

pizzicato, November 2016

“The young, accomplished singers seem to truly enjoy this music; everything sounds inspired and filled with emotion. The sound of the choir is very well balanced, though somewhat fuller than other chamber choirs. (…) The sound is young, bright, and beautifully modulated. The choir is perfectly rehearsed and able to let the music flow while remaining attentive to accents, phrasing, and stylistic accuracy.”

rbb Kulturradio, October 2016

christmas oratorio for children

“The story is narrated in a fascinating and sensitive way. The narrator Matthias Jahrmäker finds the right cheerful-serious tone, which could be accepted by all visitors. The conductor Frank Markowitsch had worked excellently with the Vokalakademie and the Prometheus Ensemble, one could hear a rhythmic pulsating and tranparently singing choir and a rhetorical vivid and dance-like playing orchestra.”

Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten, Klaus Büstrin, December 2015

könig david

“The dramatic momentum from conductor Frank Markowitsch, especially among the choral forces, counts for much in a score that feels almost terse to a fault.”

Gramophone Magazine, November 2014

“There’s much about this new version that gives strong enjoyment, and taken for what it is, this is a highly effective and elucidating presentation of Honegger’s score.” | “Frank Markowitsch has an excellent feeling for the music’s spiritual high and lows… there is no sensation of anti-climax but rather of culmination and transcendence“

International Record Review, December 2014

Bastien et Bastienne, Musikfestspiele Potsdam

“Under the direction of Frank Markowitsch the Kammerakademie Potsdam presented itself as its best.”

Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten, Antje Rößler, June 2015

Haydn’s Creation with the Junge Ensemble Berlin

“The latest project of the Junge Ensemble Berlin showed how coprehensive one can deal with Haydn’s oratorio of 1798 and how you can work out three different areas with political and social significance for 2015. Imitation urgently recommended!”

nmz, Arne Reul, March 2015

contact

büro frank markowitsch

Stadtstr. 22
79104 Freiburg
T +49 (0) 176 21 23 52 57
buero@frankmarkowitsch.com

Photos:
Neda Navaee

Stephan Röhl

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