Helmuth Rilling

Rilling was born into a musical family. He received his early training at the Protestant Seminaries in Württemberg. From 1952 to 1955 he studied organ, composition, and choral conducting at the Stuttgart College of Music. He completed his studies with Fernando Germani in Rome and at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena.

While still a student in 1954, he founded his first choir, the Gächinger Kantorei. Starting in 1957, he was organist and choirmaster at the Stuttgart Gedächtniskirche, conducting the choir Figuralchor der Gedächtniskirche Stuttgart. From 1963 to 1966, he taught organ and choral at the Spandauer Kirchenmusikschule, conducting the Spandauer Kantorei (Spandau chorale).

In 1967, he studied with Leonard Bernstein in New York and in the same year was appointed professor of choral conducting at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, a post that he held until 1985. In 1969, Rilling took over as conductor of the Frankfurter Kantorei (Frankfurt Choir). Since 1965, he has conducted the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, which often performs with the Gächinger Kantorei. He has toured widely with both ensembles.

He is well known for his performances of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries. Rilling is the first person to have twice prepared and recorded (on modern instruments) the complete choral works of J. S. Bach, a monumental task involving well over 1,000 pieces of music - spanning 170 compact discs. He has also recorded many romantic and classical choral and orchestral works, including the works of Johannes Brahms. In 1988, Rilling conducted the world premiere of the Messa per Rossini that he also conducted at the Rheingau Musik Festival in 2001, where he has traditionally conducted the final concert.[http://www.festivalensemble.org/2006/pdf/2006090_prosp_dt.pdf Festival Ensemble Stuttgart] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181322/http://www.festivalensemble.org/2006/pdf/2006090_prosp_dt.pdf |date=3 March 2016 }}, 2006 (in German)

Rilling co-founded the Oregon Bach Festival in 1970, and served as its artistic director until 2013.{{cite web | author=David Stabler | title=Oregon Bach Festival names Matthew Halls to replace Helmuth Rilling in 2013 | work=The Oregonian | date=24 August 2011 | url=http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2011/08/oregon_bach_festival_names_mat.html | access-date=11 December 2014}} He also co-founded and led the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart since 1981. In 2001, Rilling created the Festival Ensemble to be part of the European Music Festival Stuttgart ("Musikfest Stuttgart"). Rilling became the Festival Conductor and lecturer at the Toronto Bach Festival in 2004.

Rilling was a teacher of chorale conducting at the Frankfurt Musikhochschule from 1965 to 1989.

Rilling's recording of Krzysztof Penderecki's Credo, commissioned and performed by the Oregon Bach Festival, won the 2001 Grammy Award for best choral performance. He received the Bach Medal in 2004.{{cite press release |date=30 April 2004 |title=Rilling ausgezeichnet |url=http://www.schwaebische-post.de/p/872501/ |work=Schwäbische Post |location=Aalen |agency=dpa |language=de |access-date=4 July 2018 |archive-date=4 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704213628/http://www.schwaebische-post.de/p/872501/ |url-status=dead }} In 2008, Rilling was awarded the Sanford Award by the Yale School of Music at Yale University. He was the 2011 recipient of the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize.

For Rilling's 75th birthday, his record label Hänssler Classic released his entire Bach edition on iTunes.

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• [http://www.bachakademie.de/de/helmuth-rilling.html Helmuth Rilling / Gründer der Internationalen Bachakademie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810122545/http://www.bachakademie.de/de/helmuth-rilling.html |date=10 August 2016 }} on the website of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart {{in lang|de}}
• [http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Rilling-Helmuth.htm Helmuth Rilling (Conductor, Organ)] on bach-cantatas.com
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101124060836/http://www.helmuth-rilling.de/data_vita.htm vita - fotos] of Helmuth Rilling {{in lang|de}}
• [http://www.bruceduffie.com/rilling.html Interview with Helmuth Rilling] by Bruce Duffie, 2 March 2000

{{Herbert von Karajan Music Prize}}

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Category:1933 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century German conductors (music)

Category:21st-century German male musicians

Category:Bach conductors

Category:German choral conductors

Category:German male conductors (music)

Category:Grammy Award winners

Category:Herbert von Karajan Music Prize winners

Category:Kirchenmusikdirektor

Category:Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Category:Musicians from Oregon

Category:Musicians from Stuttgart

Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg

Category:Accademia Musicale Chigiana alumni