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The German flutist and conductor, Andreas Kröper, studied at the University of Heidelberg (musicology, history, and philosophy) and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Nikolaus Harnoncourt (theory and interpretation of early music).
Andreas Kröper had made his début as a flautist and conductor in most European and North American musical centres. He has worked with many outstanding ensembles and musicians (Simon Standage, Geoffrey Lancaster, Richard Boothby, Howard Arman, Max van Egmond). In 1991 he founded the Concertino Notturno Praha, an ensemble specializing in baroque and classicist repertoire performed on period instruments.
In 1989 Andreas Kröper was visiting senior lecturer at PennState University in the USA. Since 1990, he has been a lecturer at the Institute of Musicology at the Masaryk University in Brno where he is currently director of the Academy of Early Music. As a lecturer and teacher of master classes and interpretation courses, he has visited many educational centres around the world: The Academy for Early Music Radovlijca (SLO), Akademie für Alte Musik Salzburg (A), Aroser Sommerkurswochen (CH), Forum für Alte Musiki Rostock (D), the Hamburger Telemann-Symposium (D), Hochschule für Musik Mannheim (D), Janáček´s Academy of Performing Arts in Brno (CZ), Pilsen Conservatory (CZ), Landesmusikakademie Brandenburg (D), Landesmusikakademie Nordrhein-Westfalen (D), the School of Music Worcester (USA), PennState University (USA), the Charles University in Prague (CZ), the Cambridge Longy Shool (USA) and the University of Salzburg (A).
In addition, Andreas Kröper's activities include TV recordings and radio broadcasts as well as his research publications. Kröper explains the basis of his work as follows: The word "authentic" does not mean anything to me when it used to refer to contemporary performances of music that has become part of the past; that would be a fraud. I do not seek to do more than make music, with the greatest respect to the music and to the composer. This means understanding the historical context which originally produced the work. Eighteenth century music must not become a selfish act by the musician. A real artist has to see himself as an interpreter, this means as a mediator between music and the listener. Andreas Kröper was also artistic director of the music festivals Musique ancienne en chapelle Saint Bernard in Paris and Dörrenbacher Kirchenkonzert in Germany.
Since 1994, Andreas Kröper has been the dramaturge of The Haydn Music Festival held at the castle in Dolní Lukavice. In 1999 he was the dramatuge of the festival "Mozart & Salieri" in Prague; he also conducted Mozart´s Magic Flute at the Opera Praha Open Air Festival.
On the one hand Andreas Kröper ranks among the leading figures of early music theory and interpretation in Europe. He has released over twenty five CD recordings on the international music market, most of which have won prestigious awards. The German magazine CD Leitfaden Alte-Musik mentions his recording of W.A.Mozart´s Requiem as the best of its kind. On the other hand Andreas Kroper is a very regarded jazz flutist, playing in various clubs on a wooden flute, which is conected to his special Hohner amplifier from 1968. Beside playing Baroque and Classical music he is also a demanded musician for Jazz, Blues and Funk, which he is playing as well on historical flutes. To perform his own jazz compositions, he founded the Hyperion Jazz Quintet. This days (2003) he is finishing a new CD with Iva Bittová. |
