Michael Schönheit

Personal details

Michael Schönheit was the winner of the 1984 International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig. He was appointed organist of the Gewandhaus Leipzig in 1986, where – together with the ensemble ‘Merseburger Hofmusik’, which he founded in 1998 – he performed the complete cantatas and organ works of Dieterich Buxtehude in a threeyear concert series commemorating the 300th anniversary of Buxtehude’s death. Schönheit is also cathedral organist in Merseburg and artistic director of the ‘Merseburger Orgeltage’. He teaches organ at the ‘Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg’ and acts as juror in international competitions. He regularly performs with the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig and has appeared with the ‘Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden’, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as playing solo concerts in Europe, the USA and Japan.

Publications

Eine Liederreise

Mit Christian Fürchtegott Gellert aus Leipzig zu Ludwig van Beethoven nach Wien

CD, Choir Coach, multimedia