Friedrich Kircheis

Personal details

Friedrich Kircheis (organ, harpsichord) was born in Aue, Saxony, in 1940. His musical talents were recognized and nurtured from an early age. He began organ lessons at the age of 14 and two years later, while still at school, took up his first appointment as Kantor. In 1959 he began studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Leipzig (organ lessons with Wolfgang Schetelich and Hannes Kästner), taking his final examinations in 1964 (passing in organ with distinction). He worked as a church musician in Grimma and Dresden from 1964–69, was chorus master at the Stadttheater Döbeln from 1969–71, and became Kantor and organist at the Diakonissenhauskirche in Dresden in 1973. He was a prizewinner at the fourth International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in 1972. Friedrich Kircheis plays organ and harpsichord in several chamber music ensembles: he was harpsichordist with the Dresdner Kammersolisten from 1975–82, has regularly performed as a partner with the trumpeter Ludwig Güttler since 1979, initially in concerts for trumpet and organ, then as harpsichordist with the Leipzig Bach-Collegium from 1984, and since 1986 as harpsichordist with the chamber orchestra Virtuosi Saxoniae. Concert tours have taken him to many European countries, Japan, and America.