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Biography
Born in Frankfurt/Oder, Germany, the artist studied piano at
the Leipzig Hochschule für Musik (Conservatory) with Günter
Kootz and conducting with Rolf Reuter. Subsequently,
he has taught at this institution, being promoted to full Professor
of Piano in 1991, after the fall of the Wall.
With his first performances of Bach, he garnered glowing reviews
and he was engaged by several recording companies. Other great
names associated with Leipzig’s musical tradition, such
as Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Wagner, and last but not least,
Max Reger, appear regularly in his recitals.
Ulrich Urban has performed piano concerti with more than forty
orchestras, among whom are the Hamburg and the Dresden Philharmonics,
the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Weimar
Staatskapelle, as well as orchestras in Europe and beyond European
borders, such as in Southern Africa. German Radio productions
account for twenty of the thirty-five different piano concerti
in his repertoire, in addition to other repertoire, included
in over one hundred sixty broadcasts.
Concurrently to his activity as a solo pianist, he also conducted
many orchestras in Germany. This experience reinforced his tonal
color at the keyboard and. musical concepts
Concurrently to his radio performances of the piano concerti
of C. Ph. E. Bach, Haydn, Dvorak, Pfitzner, Reger and Strauss,
his spoken commentary has added new insights, as they have in
special productions using the pianos of such Leipzig manufacturers
as Blüthner and Irmler. He has also introduced such new
musical discoveries as works of Elizabeth Austin, Erle Ninow,
Gernot Grohs and the collected works for piano and chamber ensemble
of the English composer, Clement Harris, recorded in 2004.
His concert tours have taken him all over Europe, Japan, South
America, 2005 and 06 South Africa, as well as recent tours since
2003 to The United States, where he gave concerts and conducted
master classes. His numerous CD recordings encompass all musical
styles, with emphasis on the turn of the century between the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
His CD’s are available on Ambitus, Berlin-Classics, Beoton,
Capstone, Eterna,Hänssler, Koch-Schwann, Magna, Querstand,
and VMS labels.
April / May 2008 concerts in the USA – Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Arkansas, Universities, Storrs and Jonesboro
Feb. 1. 2009: National Gallery of Art Washington:programm
to celebrate Mendelssohn´s 200. birthday.
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