Concerts » Winfried Bönig
- Date
- 23.07.24
- Day
- Tuesday
- Time
- 20:00
Winfried Bönig is since 2001 Titulair Organist of the Cathedral of Cologne, one of the most prestigious places for an organist in the world.
The Cathedral is the most famous building in Germany, visited by 20000 people every day. It is known for its special architecture, for its paintings and sculptures but also for the music department. Thousends of people are joining the musical performances all over the year.
Winfried Bönigs works at the “Hochschule für Musik” in Cologne as a professor for organ and improvisation, additionally as dean of the departement of Catholic church music.
Bönig was born in Bamberg and has studied organ, conducting and church music with Franz Lehrndorfer, Cathedral organist in Munich, at the Munich College of Music.
His Exams Bönig passed „with distinction“, additionally he received a prestigious master class diploma. This diploma is a price for the best performers in the final tests of studies.
After these studies, Bönig earned a doctorate degree in musicology (University of Augsburg), result of an intensive work with the performance practice of baroque music, same as romantic and contemporary French organ music.
In these early years he was already asked as a lecturer at various Universities as well as music courses and seminars both at home and abroad. So he worked as a teacher at the Universities of Bamberg, Augsburg and Feldkirch (Austria).
1984-1998 he was organist at the catholic St.Josef church in Memmingen, Bavaria.
International concert appearances as organist, harpsichordist and conductor leaded him all over the world, he is asked frequently to perform in organ inaugurations. He played concerts in China, USA, Russia, Japan, South America, South Africa and almost all European countries.
Bönig has performed numerous premieres of works dedicated to him, including those by Jean Guillou, Enjott Schneider, Naji Hakim, Stephen Tharp, Christopher Tambling, Daniel Roth and Colin Mawby.
The integral performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s and Olivier Messiaens works for organ are milestons in his career.
Numerous recordings and radio broadcasts. His CD´s recorded on the large organs at Cologne Cathedral belong to the most successful products among organ recordings in Europe.
Apart from the recordings in Cologne Cathedral most successful were CD-Recordings of “Toccatas” and of “Goldberg-Variations” in an own transcription for organ.