Irmin Schmidt

Irmin Schmidt ( * May 29, 1937 in Berlin ) is a German musician and composer, who was also known internationally as a member of the band Can.

Biography

Schmidt founded 16 years a school orchestra, which he conducted. In 1956 he organized in the auditorium of his school a jazz concert. Then he graduated at the Conservatory Dortmund with distinction as a piano teacher, and thus had the requirement to go to a music college to study conducting and composition. He first studied at the Folkwang School in Essen, where György Ligeti for timbres sensitized him, then at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Hochschule für Musik Köln. In Cologne, he studied from 1964 to 1966 teaching composition with Karlheinz Stockhausen. Schmidt was initially mainly active as a conductor and headed for numerous concerts, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and was founded in 1962 by him Dortmunder Ensemble for New Music. He received several Dirigierpreise. In addition, he served as Kapellmeister at the Stadttheater Aachen and also worked as a lecturer in musical and song at the drama school in Bochum. In addition, he has performed as a pianist.

In 1968 he founded together with Holger Czukay, Michael Karoli and Jaki Liebezeit the band Can. He then published again and again, with the participation of former Can- members a number of solo albums. Irmin Schmidt is also a sought-after film and television music composer. Red He was responsible for the music of more than 40 film and television productions, such as for the TV series Earth.

After the Gormenghast novels by Mervyn Peake Schmidt composed the opera Gormenghast (premiere in Wuppertal on 15 November 1998), which was also staged elsewhere. From the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Dusseldorf, he was commissioned to compose the ballet La Fermosa Youri Vàmos ( premiered in 2008 ).

Discography (selection)

Discography with Can see Can