„an artist of the baroque“



vita Florian Wilkes


Florian Wilkes (Organist)


Florian Wilkes, organist with an A-diploma in church music, gives concerts at national and international level (recitals). He studied at the Cathedral of Bamberg and at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin in Berlin. His first permanent post, was, at the age of seventeen, at the Paulus Church in Schwerte/Ruhr. Today he is organist at the Cathedral St Hedwig in Berlin (curriculum vitae).

Invited by its ten-person-organ-committee, Florian Wilkes played at the Tokyo University in Japan in October 2006. In 2007 concert tours took him to Finland, Austria, Poland and other countries. In 2008 he was heard from Copenhagen to Stockholm, from Scotland to Switzerland. In 2009 he played a dozen concerts in the neighbouring Poland, e.g. on the occasion of the German-Polish reconciliatory celebrations. In addition he gave guest performances in the Netherlands and at the Royal Holmens Church in Copenhagen. In Aberdeen he performed Reubke´s 94th Psalm. In 2010 Florian Wilkes played a recital at the great lecture hall of the university in Bochum, performing all six organ sonatas by Mendelssohn, and one in the Basilica of the National Shrine of Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C.. Other concerts took place on the Compenius organ of the Royal Castle at Frederiksborg, Denmark, at the Leonhard´s Church in Basel, Switzerland (Andreas Silbermann reconstructed), on Gottfried Silbermann´s masterpiece in Niederschöna (Erzgebirge), at the International Organ Festival in Breslau and in Scotland (the three great organ Works by Franz Liszt). Highlights in 2011 until today have been a recital in the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., and in the Dome of Helsinki, Finland. In 2012 he gave guest performances in St John the Divine, NYC, and again in National Shrine, Washington D.C., in the abbey of Sorø, Denmark and on the eldest playable organ of the world, 1435 in Sion, Valais, Switzerland. 2013 Florian Wilkes was invited to give a concert in St Paul's Cathedral in London. Besides he took part in celebrations of Wagner's jubilee with own transcriptions of the Tannhäuser-Overture, the Good Friday Spell and other Works by Wagner. Once more he expanded his musical spectrum by performing Bach's Well tempered Clavier on the cembalo and started a program for art harmonium with original literature.

Florian Wilkes was supported by Goethe-Institutes of Osaka und Paris, the Deutsche Musikrat and the Gotthard Schierse-Foundation.

His recording of Dvoràks 9th Symphony at the big Sauer organ of the Berlin Dome was ranked among the best CDs of the year 2006 by the Berliner “Tagesspiegel” (discography). The experts consider particularly his handling of historical organs, reaching from Silbermann to Sauer, to be outstanding (press reviews). Universities invite him abroad to give masterclasses.

Florian Wilkes writes music for very different instrumentations (composer).

His Works have been broadcast on radio and television.

Since 1996 Florian Wilkes has published eight organ-solo CDs, two organ-trumpet CDs and one organ-saxophone CD (discography).

 

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Organist and attorney Florian Wilkes (Berlin)

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