Professional career

Markus Flaig was born in Horb am Neckar

Horb am Neckar

Horb am Neckar is a town in the southwest of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river, between Offenburg to the west and Tübingen to the east . It has around 25,000 inhabitants, of whom about 6,000 live in the main town of Horb, and the remainder in 18 associated...

. He studied sacred music and school music, then voice

Vocal music

Vocal music is a genre of music performed by one or more singers, with or without instrumental accompaniment, in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which employs singing but does not feature it prominently is generally considered instrumental music Vocal music is a genre of...

 with Beata Heuer-Christen in Freiburg

Freiburg

Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...

 and with Berthold Possemeyer at the Hochschule für Musik Frankfurt. Since 2006 he has worked with Carol Meyer-Bruetting. In 2004 he was awarded a prize at the international Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig in the voice category.

Flaig has collaborated on Lied

Lied

is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...

er with Jörg Schweinbenz. He premiered a cycle of orchestral songs, composed for him by Franz F. Kaern, based on poems by Thomas Bernhard

Thomas Bernhard

Thomas Bernhard was an Austrian novelist, playwright and poet. Bernhard, whose body of work has been called "the most significant literary achievement since World War II," is widely considered to be one of the most important German-speaking authors of the postwar era.- Life :Thomas Bernhard was...

.

He performed regularly with the Frankfurter Kantorei, conducted by Winfried Toll, in 2001 singing Handel's Dixit Dominus

Dixit Dominus (Handel)

Dixit Dominus is a psalm setting by George Friederic Handel . It uses the Latin text of Psalm 110 , which begins with the words Dixit Dominus ....

in the Sendesaal concert hall of the Hessischer Rundfunk

Hessischer Rundfunk

Hessischer Rundfunk is the public broadcaster for the German state of Hesse. The main offices of HR are in Frankfurt am Main. HR is a member of the ARD.- Studios :...

, in 2006 Bach's Mass in B minor in the Heiliggeistkirche of the Dominikanerkloster, and in 2010 Handel's Messiah

Messiah (Handel)

Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...

in the Alte Oper

Alte Oper

The Alte Oper is a major concert hall and former opera house in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The building was inaugurated in 1880. Many important works have been premiered at the Alte Oper, including Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in 1937....

. On 3 April 2009, in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

, in a concert commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the city, he sang with the Israel Chamber Orchestra

Israel Chamber Orchestra

The Israel Chamber Orchestra is an Israeli orchestra based in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. Primary funding comes from the Israel Ministry of Education and the Tel Aviv Jaffa Municipality....

 in a Mann Auditorium performance of Mozart's Requiem

Requiem (Mozart)

The Requiem Mass in D minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in Vienna in 1791 and left unfinished at the composer's death. A completion by Franz Xaver Süssmayr was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg, who had anonymously commissioned the piece for a requiem Mass to commemorate the...

and Mendelssohn's Die erste Walpurgisnacht.

Flaig has performed regularly with the Rheinische Kantorei, conducted by Hermann Max

Hermann Max

Hermann Max is a German choral conductor.In 1977 he founded the Jugendkantorei Dormagen, which in 1985 became the basis of the Rheinische Kantorei and Das Kleine Konzert...

. In 2008 they performed programs around Bach's short Mass

Missa (Bach)

A Missa of Johann Sebastian Bach is in general a composition of the Latin Mass by the German Baroque composer.More specifically, Missa refers to one of his four short masses in F major, A major, G minor and G major, BWV 233 to 236...

es at the Bachfest Leipzig

Bachfest Leipzig

The Leipzig Bach Festival is a music festival which takes place annually in the city of Leipzig, where Bach worked as the Thomaskantor from 1723 until his death in 1750....

 in the Nikolaikirche, at the Wartburgkonzerte Eisenach

Eisenach

Eisenach is a city in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated between the northern foothills of the Thuringian Forest and the Hainich National Park. Its population in 2006 was 43,626.-History:...

 and at the Musikwochen Weserbergland, with Veronika Winter, Henning Voss and Jan Kobow

Jan Kobow

Jan Kobow is a German classical tenor in concert, Lied and Baroque opera.-Professional career:Jan Kobow was born and raised in Berlin. He was a singer and soloist of the Staats- und Domchor, Berlin with Christian Grube. He studied the organ at the Schola Cantorum in Paris and graduated in church...

. In 2009 he sang Bach's complete Christmas Oratorio

Christmas Oratorio

The Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...

. In 2010 he performed at the Tonhalle Düsseldorf

Tonhalle Düsseldorf

Tonhalle Düsseldorf is a concert hall in Düsseldorf. It was built by the architect Wilhelm Kreis.-History:It was built in 1926 as a planetarium, the biggest in the world at the point of construction. During the 1970s it was converted into a concert hall....

 the bass arias of Bach's St John Passion, in the arrangement of Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....

. At that year's Rheingau Musik Festival

Rheingau Musik Festival

The Rheingau Musik Festival is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres...

 he sang in Eberbach Abbey

Eberbach Abbey

Eberbach Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery near Eltville am Rhein in the Rheingau, Germany. On account of its impressive Romanesque and early Gothic buildings it is considered one of the most significant architectural heritage sites in Hesse, Germany...

 Haydn's Stabat Mater

Stabat Mater (Haydn)

Joseph Haydn's Stabat Mater Hob. XXa:1 was written in 1767, for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, mixed choir, 2 oboes both doubling English horn in the sections in E-flat major, strings and organ continuo. The first performance is believed to have taken place March 25, 1768 in Vienna with...

and Mozart's Coronation Mass.

In 2004 he was the Vox Christi

Vox Christi

Vox Christi, Latin for Voice of Christ, is a term for the bass voice representing Jesus in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and others. This part appears prominently in Bach's Passions...

 in Bach's St John Passion, alongside Werner Güra

Werner Güra

Werner Güra is a German classical tenor in opera, concert and Lied, also an academic teacher in Zurich.- Professional career :...

's Evangelist

Evangelist (Bach)

The Evangelist in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is the tenor part in his oratorios and Passions who narrates the exact words of the Bible, translated by Martin Luther, in recitative, namely in the works St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, and the Christmas Oratorio, also in the St Mark...

, in concerts with the Camerata Vocale Freiburg, conducted by Toll, in the Konzerthaus of Freiburg and the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre, among others.

In 2008 he sang the part of Jesus in Hugo Distler

Hugo Distler

Hugo Distler was a German organist, choral conductor, teacher and composer.-Life and career:...

's chorale Passion Choralpassion op. 7, with the Kurt-Thomas Kammerchor in three concerts in and around Frankfurt to celebrate the centenary of Distler's birth in 1908.

In 2011 he performed the bass part in Handel's Messiah in St. Martin, Idstein

St. Martin, Idstein

St. Martin in Idstein, Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, is the church of the local Roman Catholic parish. The official name is Katholische Pfarrkirche St. Martin. The parish is part of the Diocese of Limburg...

, with Katia Plaschka

Katia Plaschka

Katia Plaschka is a German coloratura soprano who performs in opera, especially contemporary opera, and concert performances of oratorios.-Professional career:...

, Andreas Scholl

Andreas Scholl

Andreas Scholl is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range. He is noted as a specialist in Baroque music.-Childhood:...

 and Ulrich Cordes

Ulrich Cordes

Ulrich Cordes is a German tenor.-Professional career:Ulrich Cordes first studied sacred music at the Hochschule für Musik Köln with Winfried Bönig and Margaretha Hürholz, among others. He continued studying voice. In 2005 he was able to study at the CNSMDP in Paris with Pierre Mervant as a...

. His voice, referring to "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light", was described as excelling with a depth touching upon blackness, anchored in a bright altitude.

Recordings

Flaig has recorded solo cantatas by Bach

Bạch

Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...

, Telemann and Graupner. He recorded Johann Kaspar Kerll

Johann Kaspar Kerll

Johann Kaspar Kerll was a German baroque composer and organist.Son of an organist, he showed outstanding musical abilities at an early age, and was taught by Giovanni Valentini, court Kapellmeister at Vienna. Kerll became one of the most acclaimed composers of his time, known both as a gifted...

's Missa superba with Thomas Hengelbrock

Thomas Hengelbrock

Thomas Hengelbrock is a German violinist, musicologist, stage director and conductor.- Biography :Thomas Hengelbrock studied the violin with Rainer Kussmaul and started his career in Würzburg and Freiburg im Breisgau...

, Bach's Mass in B minor with Tobias Hiller and his cantata

Bach cantata

Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....

 Du Hirte Israel, höre, BWV 104

Du Hirte Israel, höre, BWV 104

Du Hirte Israel, höre , BWV 104, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed the cantata for the second Sunday after Easter in Leipzig and first performed it on 23 April 1724.-History and words:...

, and the bass arias of the St Matthew Passion with Martin Lutz, the Schiersteiner Kantorei and Evangelist

Evangelist (Bach)

The Evangelist in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is the tenor part in his oratorios and Passions who narrates the exact words of the Bible, translated by Martin Luther, in recitative, namely in the works St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, and the Christmas Oratorio, also in the St Mark...

 Christoph Prégardien

Christoph Prégardien

Christoph Prégardien is a German lyric tenor whose career is closely associated with the roles in Mozart operas, as well as performances of Lieder, oratorio roles, and Baroque music...

. He recorded Bach's Christmas Oratorio

Christmas Oratorio

The Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...

with Hermann Max

Hermann Max

Hermann Max is a German choral conductor.In 1977 he founded the Jugendkantorei Dormagen, which in 1985 became the basis of the Rheinische Kantorei and Das Kleine Konzert...

, Handel's Brockes Passion

Brockes Passion

The Brockes Passion, or Der für die Sünde der Welt gemarterte und sterbende Jesus is a German oratorio libretto by Barthold Heinrich Brockes, first published in 1712 and going through 30 or so editions in the next 15 years....

, HWV 48, with Peter Neumann, and the St Mark Passion of Friedrich Nicolaus Bruhns with Ralf Popken.
He participated in a project to record Schubert

Franz Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...

's Part-Songs, works for multiple voices, with the singers Sibylla Rubens

Sibylla Rubens

- Biography :Sibylla Rubens studied voice at the Staatliche Musikhochschule in Trossingen and at the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt and in master classes with Edith Mathis....

, Silke Schwarz, Regina Jakobi, Ingeborg Danz

Ingeborg Danz

Ingeborg Danz is a German mezzo-soprano and alto concert singer.- Biography :Ingeborg Danz studied school music at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and voice with Heiner Eckels...

, Hildegard Wiedemann, Markus Schäfer, Marcus Ullmann

Marcus Ullmann

- Professional career :Marcus Ullmann received his first musical training as a choir boy in the Dresdner Kreuzchor. He studied at the Dresden Music Academy and graduated with honours in Lieder, Choral Work and Opera...

, Thomas E. Bauer, Marcus Schmidl, and the pianist Ulrich Eisenlohr.

External links

• Markus Flaig website