Holger Speck

Holger Speck enjoys an international reputation as a charismatic conductor who succeeds both in realizing stylistic characteristics in an innovative manner and in conveying emotional content. Fanfare magazine from the USA attests to his “undeniable authority.” With his distinctive sense of sound and compelling, lively and authentic interpretations, he shapes the image of his own ensembles as well as the choirs and orchestras with which he works as a guest conductor. The president of the German Bundestag Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble engaged him and his Vocalensemble Rastatt for a concert during the G20 summit. Speck established the Grammy-nominated Vocalensemble Rastatt and the Baroque orchestra Les Favorites internationally with exciting concert programs and outstanding CD recordings on the Carus label containing music by Buxtehude, Telemann, Handel and Brahms, among others. For Deutsche Grammophon productions, he was responsible for the choral sections of the Mozart operas “Die Entführung aus dem Serail,” “Le nozze di Figaro,” “Così fan tutte,” and “Don Giovanni.” Holger Speck teaches at the University of Music in Karlsruhe; in addition to being the artistic director of Vocalensemble Rastatt & Les Favorites, he works as a guest conductor with the NDR Vokalensemble, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and the choir and orchestra of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra in Ljubljana, among others. The ballet director John Neumeier engaged Speck to conduct his last major creation “Dona nobis pacem” with Bach’s Mass in B minor at the Hamburg State Opera and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. .