Gönnenwein, Wolfgang

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Gönnenwein, Wolfgang

Gönnenwein, Wolfgang, German conductor, pedagogue, and operatic administrator; b. Schwabisch-Hall, Jan. 29, 1933. He was educated at the Stuttgart Hochschule für Musik and at the univs. of Heidelberg and Tubingen. In 1959 he became conductor of the South German Madrigal Choir of Stuttgart, with which he toured Germany and Europe. In 1968 he was made prof. of choral conducting at the Stuttgart Hochschule fur Musik, and in 1973 was named its director. He also was conductor of the Bach Choir of Cologne (1969-73) and later Intendant of the Wiirttemberg State Theater in Stuttgart (1985-92).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire