Rotzsch, Hans-Joachim
Rotzsch, Hans-Joachim
Rotzsch, Hans-Joachim , German tenor and choral conductor; b. Leipzig, April 25, 1929. He studied at the Leipzig Hochschule für Musik, where his principal teachers were Günther Ramin, Amadeus Webersinke, and Johannes Weyrauch. He also studied voice with Fritz Polster. In 1961 he joined the faculty of the Leipzig Hochschule für Musik, and in 1963 he became director of the choral program at the Univ. of Leipzig. He was named cantor of the Thomaskirche of Leipzig in 1972, which position he held with distinction until 1991. He also conducted the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum. He distinguished himself as a soloist in Bach’s passions, oratorios, and cantatas as well as in the capacity of choral conductor. During the 1984–85 and 1985–86 seasons, he conducted a series of performances of Bach’s works at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche and Gewandhaus in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the master’s birth.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire