Heinz Werner Zimmermann

Heinz Werner Zimmermann has been influencing the directions of sacred music across three continents for over forty years. Born in Freiburg in 1930, Zimmermann studied with Wolfgang Fortner in Heidelberg and music theory at the Protestant Institute for Church Music. He would succeed his teacher at Heidelberg after completing his degree in 1954.

He assumed the position of Director of the Berlin Conservatory in Spandau in 1963, where he become most involved as a teacher in composition. Zimmermann moved on to the Music Conservatory of Frankfurt/Main to became full Professor of Composition and music theory in 1975. Here he passed on his insights into the meaning of 20th and 21st cen-tury musical rhythm and their possibilities for sound and tonal fields. Zimmermann’s compositions range from choral works for orchestra and organ, hymns and smaller works, to his larger musical presentations. The well known Missa Profana premiered in Minneapolis in 1981 and has been performed around the world. Other cele-brated compositions include his The Bible of Spirituals (1993) and Symphonia Sacra (1996). His motets for plucked double base, organ psalms and prose songs have set new standards in composition. Musicians are influenced by others. According to Zimmermann, the traditions of American Jazz and spirituals, as well as his long-time association with the studies on lan-guage and rhythm of music scholar Theodore Georgiades, have influenced his art.

Professor Zimmermann has received many awards for his music throughout the years. In 1962 and 1965 he received the city of Stuttgart’s prize for the encouragement of composition. In 1967, he received an honorary Doctor of Music from Wittenberg University in Ohio. And in 1982 he was awarded the Johann Sebastian Bach Prize (Stuttgart). He fre-quently is asked to lecture at international music congresses, and his essays are published in professional journals.

Heinz Werner Zimmermann is married to Renate Zimmermann, who is also a pro-fessor of music and an internationally-recognized performing organist.