Biography:

Jürg Wyttenbach (born December 2 , 1935 in Bern ; † December 22 , 2021 in Basel ) ^[1] was a Swiss composer , conductor and pianist .

Life

Jürg Wyttenbach studied piano with Kurt von Fischer and composition with Sándor Veress at the Bern University of the Arts , at the Conservatoire de Paris and at the Lower Saxony University of Music in Hanover, where he received the concert diploma for piano in 1959. This was followed by teaching positions at the Biel Music School and at the Bern Conservatory. Since his youth he has appeared regularly in concerts as a pianist and conductor, particularly of contemporary works. He lived in Basel from the late 1960s until his death.

As a conductor, Wyttenbach has performed well over 100 works by contemporary composers; most in premieres or first performances. He gave concerts, among other things, with the Dresden Philharmonic , the Südwestfunk Orchestra , the Hessian Radio Orchestra and the Krakow Symphony Orchestra. Jürg Wyttenbach has given many concerts with smaller, specialized ensembles for new music such as: the Ensemble Modern , Klangforum Wien , Ensemble recherche , Ensemble der IGNM Basel, Ensemble l’Itinéraire Paris and the Ensemble Forum Lyon. Jürg Wyttenbach had been married to the pianist Janka Wyttenbach-Brun (born July 3, 1934 in Bern, died April 18, 2020 in Basel) since 1968, with whom he also gave concerts together. Among other things, they performed the piece Mantra by the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen .

Teaching assignments

From 1967 to 2003, Wyttenbach taught a piano concert class and from 1970 to 2000, interpretation of contemporary music at the Conservatory of the Music Academy of the City of Basel .

Guest pianist and guest conductor

Wyttenbach was a regular guest at the Donaueschinger Musiktage , the “Festival d’Automne” in Paris, at “ Wien Modern ”, the “Festival musica” in Strasbourg and the “ Warsaw Autumn ”. The musician has repeatedly worked with the Basel Sinfonietta Orchestra . For example, he was a guest with the orchestra at the “Archipelago” festival in Geneva and at the “Octobre en Normandie” festival in Rouen .

Credits: