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Michael Höltzel is a
soloist, an orchestral
and chamber music
artist, a conductor, and
an influential teacher.
He has also established
a number of chamber
music ensembles and
symposiums.
Höltzel was born in
1936 in Tübingen,
Germany. After high
school, he studied horn
and viola at the
Hochschule für Musik in
Stuttgart, completing
his studies in horn and
conducting at the
Mozarteum in Salzburg.
He was solo horn with
the Camerata Academica
in Salzburg, the
Orchestra Palazzo Pitti
Florence, the Bamberg
Symphony, and the Munich
Philharmonic.
His studies included
the wind chamber music
class of clarinettist
Philip Dreisbach in
Stuttgart, where he also
benefited from musical
lessons with Hans
Köhler, violist with the
Wendling Quartett. In
Salzburg he learned
Mozart from Bernhard
Paumgartner, president
of the Internationale
Stiftung Mozarteum and
of the Salzburg Festival
and conductor of the
Camerata Academica. As a
result of these studies,
Höltzel founded and
directed the Wind
Ensemble of the Bamberg
Symphony.
In the summer of
1970, Höltzel wanted to
study with Philip Farkas
at Indiana University.
After Farkas and Dean
Bain had listened to the
audition tape (Haydn's
first horn concerto with
the Bamberg Symphony
Orchestra), they refused
Höltzel as a student,
but hired him as a
visiting teacher
instead.
In 1972, Höltzel was
soloist and conductor of
the Mozart four
concertos and Concert
Rondo with the Camerata
Academica Salzburg,
after which the
orchestra offered him
the position of
principal conductor
(until 1975).
Höltzel has been
professor of horn and
chamber music at the
Hochschule für Musik in
Detmold (1973-1999),
Indiana University
(1970-71, 1975-76,
1980-81, 2005-06), and
currently at the
Hochschule für Musik and
Theater Rostock as well
as the Hochschule für
Musik Trossingen. He has
conducted numerous
chamber music courses
(Salzburg, Bloomington,
Weimar, Bobbio, Tokyo,
Bologna, etc.).
Many of Höltzel's
former students have
become award winners and
play in major symphony
orchestras: Radovan
Vlatkovic, Eric
Terwilliger, Daniel
Katzen, Bruno Schneider,
Esa Tapani, Alessio
Allegrini, and others.
Höltzel appears
frequently as guest
conductor with various
symphony and chamber
orchestras, and with
ensembles such as the
Piccola Academia di
Roma, the Wind Academy
Sachsen in Chemnitz, the
winds of the Hamburg
Symphony, and the
Radio-Symphony Orchestra
Helsinki, Finland.
Höltzel has founded
various chamber music
ensembles, such as the
Detmolder Hornisten,
Gran Partita Detmold,
and Detmolder
Serenadenensemble.
Several of his CDs have
been issued by the MDG
label, including
Le
Grand Sextuor by
Dauprat with his
Detmolder Hornisten and
Romantic Music for
Horn and Piano with
Friedrich Wilhelm
Schnurr.
In 1980, Höltzel
hosted the First
European Horn Symposium
in Trossingen and in
1986 was host for the
IHS Symposium in
Detmold. Together with
his wife, Petra Mendes,
he organized the
International Horn
Festival 2000 in Detmold
and is co-founder of the
International Horntage
that takes place every
two years (established
in 2002).
Höltzel's method for
horn (Hohe Schule
des Horns) has been
published by Schott
International in three
volumes. The third
volume, which was
awarded a German Book
Prize in 2001, is
available in English asMastery
of the French Horn:
Technique and Musical
Expression.
Höltzel has served on
the IHS Advisory Council
(1976-1982 and
1988-1991) and as Vice
President (1978-1981).
He was elected an IHS
Honorary Member in 2009.
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