Hans Zender
German composer and conductor. Studied piano, conducting and composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt and at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg. From 1964 he was conductor-in-chief of the opera in Bonn, and in 1972 he was appointed to the post of conductor-in-chief of Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken, where he remained for ten years. In 1984–1987 he was conductor-in-chief of Hamburg State Opera. From 1988 he was Professor of Composition at Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt, and from 1999 he was a guest conductor and member of the Artistic Council of SWR Symphony Orchestra in Baden-Baden and Freiburg. Apart from his conducting successes Hans Zender has also achieved an international reputation as a composer. He composes orchestral and chamber music, vocal works and operas. His compositions have been heard at festivals in Bayreuth, Vienna, Salzburg, Berlin etc. He has received the Goethepreis der Stadt Frankfurt (1997) and the Preis der Europäischen Kirchenmusik (2011). In 1997 a CD edition was issued (17 CD) comprising works which he has conducted, from the classicist to the contemporary period. Zender’s third opera Chief Joseph had its premiere in 2005 in the Berlin State Opera. He has also been active as a publicist, and his essays have appeared in collections entitled Happy New Ears and Wir steigen niemals in denselben Fluss.