Wolfgang Rihm
1952 born March 13th in Karlsruhe, south-west Germany
1963 First compositions
1968-72 Seconday School (Humanistisches Gymnasium); simultaneously studies in composition at the Karlsruhe Music Academy (Eugen Werner Velte); further composition studies with Wolfgang Fortner and Humphrey Searle
1970 Attends the Darmstadt Summer Courses for the first time
1972 Completes secondary school studies, diploma in composition, Karlsruhe Music Academy
1972/73 Composition studies with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne
1973-76 Composition studies with Klaus Huber and musicological studies with Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht in Freiburg
1973-78 Teaches at the Karlsruhe Music Academy
1974 Awarded the City of Stuttgart Prize
1975 Awarded the City of Mannheim Prize
1976 Faust und Yorick - chamber opera No 1 (Jean Tardieu/Frithjof Haas)
1977/78 Jakob Lenz - chamber opera No 2 (Georg Büchner/Michael Frühling)
1978 Awarded Berlin Art Prize Fellowship; Kranichstein Music Prize Darmstadt; Reinhold-Schneider Prize Freiburg
since 1978 Lecturer at the Darmstadt Summer Courses
1979 Receives Fellowship Award of the City of Hamburg
1979/80 German Art Academy Fellowship at the Villa Massimo in Rome
1981 Awarded the City of Bonn Beethoven Prize. Teaches at the Munich Music Academy
since 1982 Presidium member, German Association of Composers
1983 Fellowship at the Cite des Arts in Paris
1983/86 Die Hamletmaschine, opera, (Heiner Müller/Rihm)
1984/85 Fellow of the Berlin Science Institute, Presidium member, German Music Council
1984-89 Co-editor of the music journal Melos
since 1984 Musical advisor, Deutsche Oper Berlin
since 1985 Professor for composition at the Karlsruhe Music Academy (successor of Professor Velte). Member of the advisory council of the Heinrich Strobel Institute, South-West German Radio Baden-Baden
1986 Awarded the Rolf Liebermann Prize for the opera Hamletmaschine
1986/87 Oedipus, opera, (text by Rihm after Sophokles, Hölderlin, Nietzsche, H. Müller)
1987/91 Die Eroberung von Mexico (The Conquest of Mexico), opera, (Antonin Artaud/Rihm)
since 1989 Member of the Board of Directors, GEMA
1989 Awarded German Distinguished Service Cross
1990-93 Musical advisor to the Centre for Art and Media Technologies in Karlsruhe (ZKM)
1991 Guest speaker at the opening ceremony of the Salzburg Festival. Member, Academy of the Arts in the cities of Munich, Berlin and Mannheim
1994 Seraphin, „an attempt at music theatre/Instruments, voices...“ World premiere in Frankfurt
1997 Awarded the Prix de Composition Musical de la Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco
1998 Awarded the Jacob Burckhardt Prize of the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Foundation. Honorary Doctorate of Freie Universität Berlin 2000 Awarded the Bach Prize of the City of Hamburg Composer-in-residence at the Salzburg Festival and the Musica Festival in Strasbourg 2001 Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Jagden und Formen The French Ministry of External Affairs confers the title of "Officier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres“ on Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm lives in Karlsruhe and Berlin
1963 First compositions
1968-72 Seconday School (Humanistisches Gymnasium); simultaneously studies in composition at the Karlsruhe Music Academy (Eugen Werner Velte); further composition studies with Wolfgang Fortner and Humphrey Searle
1970 Attends the Darmstadt Summer Courses for the first time
1972 Completes secondary school studies, diploma in composition, Karlsruhe Music Academy
1972/73 Composition studies with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne
1973-76 Composition studies with Klaus Huber and musicological studies with Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht in Freiburg
1973-78 Teaches at the Karlsruhe Music Academy
1974 Awarded the City of Stuttgart Prize
1975 Awarded the City of Mannheim Prize
1976 Faust und Yorick - chamber opera No 1 (Jean Tardieu/Frithjof Haas)
1977/78 Jakob Lenz - chamber opera No 2 (Georg Büchner/Michael Frühling)
1978 Awarded Berlin Art Prize Fellowship; Kranichstein Music Prize Darmstadt; Reinhold-Schneider Prize Freiburg
since 1978 Lecturer at the Darmstadt Summer Courses
1979 Receives Fellowship Award of the City of Hamburg
1979/80 German Art Academy Fellowship at the Villa Massimo in Rome
1981 Awarded the City of Bonn Beethoven Prize. Teaches at the Munich Music Academy
since 1982 Presidium member, German Association of Composers
1983 Fellowship at the Cite des Arts in Paris
1983/86 Die Hamletmaschine, opera, (Heiner Müller/Rihm)
1984/85 Fellow of the Berlin Science Institute, Presidium member, German Music Council
1984-89 Co-editor of the music journal Melos
since 1984 Musical advisor, Deutsche Oper Berlin
since 1985 Professor for composition at the Karlsruhe Music Academy (successor of Professor Velte). Member of the advisory council of the Heinrich Strobel Institute, South-West German Radio Baden-Baden
1986 Awarded the Rolf Liebermann Prize for the opera Hamletmaschine
1986/87 Oedipus, opera, (text by Rihm after Sophokles, Hölderlin, Nietzsche, H. Müller)
1987/91 Die Eroberung von Mexico (The Conquest of Mexico), opera, (Antonin Artaud/Rihm)
since 1989 Member of the Board of Directors, GEMA
1989 Awarded German Distinguished Service Cross
1990-93 Musical advisor to the Centre for Art and Media Technologies in Karlsruhe (ZKM)
1991 Guest speaker at the opening ceremony of the Salzburg Festival. Member, Academy of the Arts in the cities of Munich, Berlin and Mannheim
1994 Seraphin, „an attempt at music theatre/Instruments, voices...“ World premiere in Frankfurt
1997 Awarded the Prix de Composition Musical de la Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco
1998 Awarded the Jacob Burckhardt Prize of the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Foundation. Honorary Doctorate of Freie Universität Berlin 2000 Awarded the Bach Prize of the City of Hamburg Composer-in-residence at the Salzburg Festival and the Musica Festival in Strasbourg 2001 Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Jagden und Formen The French Ministry of External Affairs confers the title of "Officier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres“ on Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm lives in Karlsruhe and Berlin