Florian Helgath has been the artistic director of ChorWerk since 2011. At Munich’s Hochschule für Musik und Theater, he studied choral conducting with Michael Gläser. His musical training was completed with international master classes with prominent conductors such as Stefan Parkman, Stephen Cleobury, Dan-Olof Stenlund, Simon Halsey, and Jos van Veldhoven. In 2007, he was an active participant at Bayerischer Rundfunk’s second Chordirigierforum, Bayerischer Rundfunk and a master class with Eric Ericson held in Haarlem, Netherlands.
From 2009 to 2014 he was chorus master at the Danish Radio Chorus. As the conductor of the Via Nova Chor he has performed numerous world premieres and has been awarded national and international prices. Nikolaus Brass, Adriana Hölszky, Thomas Larcher, and Charlotte Seither are among the composers whose work he has premiered. A regular guest with Bayerischer Rundfunk, MDR Rundfunkchor, Choeur de Radio France, SWR Vokalensemble, and RIAS Kammerchor, he has worked with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Kent Nagano, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Christian Thielemann. The orchestras he has worked with include Münchener Rundfunkorchester, Danish Chamber Orchestra, Münchner Symphoniker, Concerto Köln, Berlin’s Akademie für Alte Musik, and Hamburg’s Ensemble Resonanz. He achieved international success as a finalist and prizewinner in competitions such as the Eric Ericson Award in 2006 in Sweden and at the Competition for Young Choral Conductors in Budapest in 2007.
Photo: ©ChorWerk Ruhr / Pedro Malinowski