Prof. Franz Xaver Ohnesorg

Member of the Organization Committee

Prof. Franz Xaver Ohnesorg was born in 1948. After training as a flautist, he studied business economics at Munich University, as well as history of art, music and drama as part of a general course of studies.

He was the founding director of the Kölner Philharmonie concert hall in 1983, contributing to its remarkable success story for 16 years. In 1994, he established the MusikTriennale Köln festival, which, as the "sound of a century" was originally dedicated to contemporary music. In early 1999, he finally took up Isaac Stern's repeated invitation to carry out important reform work as the first non-American executive and artistic director at Carnegie Hall in New York. After two and a half years in the United States, he responded to the call of the Berlin Senate and returned to Europe as director of the Berlin Philharmonic, to turn the orchestra into a foundation in preparation for the reign of Sir Simon Rattle.

He has been artistic director of the Ruhr Piano Festival since 1996, and has since developed it, with the support of the Initiativkreis Ruhr, into a world-renowned piano event. In 2005, he was appointed head of the Initiativkreis Ruhr and with it, overall director of the Ruhr Piano Festival.

(September 2009)