Heribert Breuer

Heribert Breuer was born on 27 September 1945 in Heidelberg. He spent the first half of his life as a cantor in Lübeck, Würzburg and Aachen. After leaving the church, he took up a professorship at the Berlin University of the Arts, where he remained until his retirement in 2010. He was awarded the Rome Prize (Villa Massimo), the Bavarian State Prize and scholarships in Olevano and Worpswede. As a conductor and organist, he travelled extensively in Spain and South America. His compositional work increasingly specialised in unusual versions of old masters: Bach's ‘Art of Fugue’ and the Goldberg Variations, Schubert's ‘Swan Song’, Brahms' Requiem and the ‘Four Serious Songs’ for chamber ensemble. Many of these works were written for the Berlin Bach Academy, which he founded in 1991. His hobbies include travelling, the Spanish language and the wines of Hermann Dörflinger. (August 2025)