Draft:Ekhart Wycik

• Comment: Article reads more like a résumé than an encyclopedia article. Lightoil (talk) 18:40, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

• Comment: Quite a lot of the content is unreferenced; please ensure that every material statement and anything potentially contentious is clearly supported by inline citations to reliable published sources. DoubleGrazing (talk) 14:38, 25 August 2023 (UTC)

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Ekhart Wycik
Born	(1967-04-12) April 12, 1967 Hagen, Westphalia, Germany

Ekhart Wycik (born April 12, 1967, Hagen, Westphalia) is a German conductor.

After studying in Düsseldorf and Vienna and holding several positions at German opera houses as a conductor, Ekhart Wycik became the Associate General Music Director at the Dortmund Theater in 2006. In the same year, he also became the Principal Guest Conductor at the Wichita Grand Opera in Kansas, United States. This marked the beginning of an international career that took him to various countries in Europe, Asia, and North America as an opera and symphonic conductor. In 2015, he was appointed the Music Director of the Inese Galante Festival in Riga, Latvia. Since 2016, he has been a Professor of Orchestral Conducting at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT in Weimar, Germany..

Career

After graduating from Albrecht-Dürer-Gymnasium in Hagen, Wycik studied conducting, accompaniment, musicology, and philosophy at the Robert Schumann University of Music in Düsseldorf and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Starting in 1993, he was supported by the Conductors' Forum (Dirigentenforum) of the German Music Council (Deutscher Musikrat) and continued his studies with Heinz Rögner, Rolf Reuter, and Leif Segerstam. Between 2005 and 2008, he served as musical assistant to Austrian conductor Gustav Kuhn.

After completing his studies, Ekhart Wycik began his career in 1992 as coach and conductor at Bielefeld Opera (Theater Bielefeld) and progressed to the appointment as the Associate General Music Director at Dortmund Opera (Theater Dortmund) in 2006. During his time in Dortmund, he collaborated with stage directors Christine Mielitz, Beverly Blankenship, and Kerstin Pöhler, among others. He was also named the Principal Guest Conductor at Wichita Grand Opera in Kansas, United States. Since then, he has worked internationally and has often taken on opera and concert performances on short notice. For instance, in 2008, he conducted at Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck (Tosca, Cavaradossi: Hector Sandoval, stage director: Brigitte Fassbaender); in 2010 at Theater Krefeld and Mönchengladbach (The Rake's Progress, Nick Shadow: Michael Kupfer-Radecky); and in 2013 at National Opera Tirana (Don Giovanni and Brahms's "A German Requiem").

During his Dortmund tenure, Wycik led full productions of Rosenkavalier and Salome, Rigoletto, Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, Carmen, Fledermaus, Rimsky-Korsakov's Golden Cockerel, and Weber's Freischütz, in addition to all significant Mozart and Verdi operas. He also conducted performances of Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Lohengrin, and Stravinsky's Rake's Progress, expanding his already extensive opera repertoire to over 70 conducted works.

Notable international achievements include appearances at Seoul Arts Center (2010 The Magic Flute), Staatstheater Darmstadt (2011 World Premiere of "The Prince of Yemen"/stage director: Christian von Götz), Scottish Opera Glasgow (2012 The Magic Flute/stage director: Sir Thomas Allen), and several productions at Teatro Comunale di Bolzano/Italy (2013 Hänsel and Gretel/stage director Michael Hunt), 2014 The Magic Flute/stage director Michaela Lucenti), and Sarasota Opera, Florida, United States (2015 Rimsky Korsakov: Golden Cockerel, 2016 Beethoven: Fidelio/stage director: Tom Diamond).

In the symphonic realm, Ekhart Wycik has conducted concerts with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) and Berliner Symphoniker, Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, Staatskapelle Halle', Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken (RSO), WDR Radio Orchestra in Cologne, Jenaer Philharmonie, Bochumer Symphoniker, and orchestras in Austria, Hungary, Greece, Great Britain, and the United States. He has maintained longstanding relationships with Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano, Italy and Göttinger Symphony Orchestra, Germany', conducting numerous concerts and festivals over the years.

Ekhart Wycik stepped in for Christian Thielemann at short notice for the final concert of the 9th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Weimar in November 2018'. In March 2022, he assumed a concert with Neue Philharmonie München, conducting Shostakovich's 5th Symphony in the Herkulessaal Munich

Since 2015, Ekhart Wycik has held the position of Music Director of the Inese Galante Festival in Riga, Latvia'.

He has also appeared as an accompanist for Lied recitals with singers Susan Maclean (Oetkerhalle Bielefeld), Daniel Lewis Williams, Laurie Gibson, and Markus Brück, among others.

Awards

• Recipient of a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service, both as a student (1990: Vienna Master Classes, finalist) and as a guest professor (2014: Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana, United States).
• In 1994, received the "Bielefelder Operntaler" stipend along with fellow recipient Lukas Höfling '.'
• In 1999, named a finalist and received a stipend from the International Furtwängler Conducting Workshop, Mürzzuschlag, Austria.
• Recognized in 2010 with a nomination in the "Best Conductor" category by the critics' forum "theater pur", Germany.
• In 2014, Hänsel and Gretel (Teatro Comunale di Bolzano, Italy, directed by Michael Hunt) was acknowledged as "one of the 10 best European opera productions of 2014" by OperaClick magazine.
• In 2017, The Magic Flute (Scottish Opera Glasgow, Scotland directed by Sir Thomas Allen) was included in the Guardian's "top ten" list of "Best Classical Music of 2012".

Teaching

Ekhart Wycik has been actively engaged in teaching and mentoring young conductors and opera singers since 2003. He served as a vocal coach for opera performance at the University of Music Saarbrücken (2003–2006) and the Cologne University of Music (2010-12) '.' Additionally, he taught conducting at the Robert Schumann University of Music from 2010 to 2016.

In 2011, he was awarded a DAAD scholarship for a guest professorship at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University/Bloomington, USA. During this period, he conducted a symphony concert and prepared the soloists for a new production of Strauss' "Rosenkavalier."

Ekhart Wycik's contributions in the field of education and music continued as he assumed the position of Professor for Orchestral Conducting at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT in Weimar, Germany in October 2016.

He conducts master classes focusing on opera performance for singers (held in Glasgow Scotland, Wichita Kansas, Riga Latvia, Bloomington Indiana, and more), as well as master classes in conducting (conducted in Riga Latvia, 2021 Hofer Symphoniker/Dirigentenforum Germany, 2023 an 2024 Sofia Bulgaria, and other locations).

Publications

In addition to his conducting endeavors, Wycik has actively contributed to the realms of cultural marketing and music education. From 2003 to 2005, he served as a radio presenter at SR2 KulturRadio. He has authored essays and studies that delve into the interplay between culture, art, and society, contributing to several publications. Furthermore, he has delivered lectures and interviews on subjects related to music and society, collaborating with institutions such as Bayerischer Rundfunk, SR2 KulturRadio, DeutschlandRadio Berlin, and the Deutsche Oper in Berlin.

He founded a discussion platform named ACCADEMIA, in collaboration with students at the Institute for Conducting at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT in Weimar. This platform addresses profound social and philosophical inquiries and concerns about the future of culture'.'

His contributions include the following works:

• 2006 "Triumph of Drama in Opera" – Featured in the program book for Bizet's "Carmen" at Theater Dortmund/Germany, 2006/2007, pages 14/15.
• 2007 "Sonorous Subconsciousness" – Featured in the program book for Rimsky Korsakov's "Golden Cockerel" at Theater Dortmund, Germany, 2006/2007, pages 6/7.
• 2008 "Karajan – Music World Champion of All Classes" – Radio feature on DeutschlandRadio Berlin/Germany, January 31, 2008.
• 2013 "The Unknown Well-Known" – Featured in the program book for Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel" at Teatro Comunale Bolzano/Italy, 2012/2013, pages 08-11.
• 2014 "The Grand Theater of the World, a Declaration of Love" – Featured in the program book for Mozart's "Il Flauto magico/Die Zauberflöte" at Teatro Comunale Bolzano/Italy, 2013/2014, pages 12-15.
• 2016 "The Magic Flute – The Unknown Well-Known. Masonic Structures, Symbols, and Music in Mozart's Last Opera" – Published in Leipzig/Germany in 2016, ISBN: 394353961X.
• 2019 "Much More Than Just Accompanying. Belcanto from the Conductor's Point of View" – Lecture delivered at the Belcanto Symposium at Deutsche Oper Berlin/Germany, February 09, 2019.
• 2019 "Challenge Belcanto" – Radio feature on DLF Kultur, May 01, 2019, from 02:05 pm to 05:00 pm.
• 2019 "Music in Conversation: Mozart and Freemasonry" – Radio feature on DLF Kultur, October 03, 2019, from 02:05 pm to 05:00 pm.
• 2020 "Expanding Educational Horizons. The ACCADEMIA at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar" – Featured in nmz - neue musikzeitung. Regensburg 7/2020 - ISSN: 0944-8136 [42].
• 2022 "The Future of Work, Artificial Intelligence, and the Relevance of Creativity" – Published in ELEUSIS, ORD AASR Berlin, Germany 3/2022.