Bernd Goetzke (Germany) ← Back to list
Born in Hanover in 1951.
At the age of 13 he was accepted as a student at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, where he studied Piano with Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling until obtaining his Concert Soloist’s Diploma in 1975.
Another important phase in his development as a pianist was his long association (1969 to 1977) with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, who regarded him as his last pupil. He also participated in Beethoven courses given by Wilhelm Kempff and Claudio Arrau. Bernd Goetzke was awarded prizes in several international competitions (Paris, Milan, Brussels, Athens, Epinal amongst others).
Already at the age of 25 he was appointed Lecturer at the Hanover University of Music and Drama and became professor in 1982. Today Bernd Goetzke is one of Germany’s most sought-after teachers and musicians. He teaches a class of young pianists from all over the world, and many of them have become prize winners in international competitions.
He is the Head of the Piano Department and the Concert Soloist Programme in Hanover and in addition he holds numerous Master Classes in Germany and worldwide.
From 2013 onwards Bernd Goetzke accepted the invitation to teach the Beethoven course at the Wilhelm Kempff Academy in Positano/Italy. The course was established by Kempff and first taught by him and Alfred Cortot in 1957.
He is also a jury member of many international competitions (Moscow, Warsaw, Munich, Bolzano, Orléans, Oslo, London, St. Petersburg, Kharkov, Salt Lake City, Hilton Head, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Sendai and many others).
In his concert repertoire the names Bach, Scarlatti, Haydn, Beethoven, Schumann and Debussy appear frequently, but also works of the twentieth century, reflecting his fascination with the stylistic richness and diversity of the period between Late Romanticism and Avantgarde.
Recently Bernd Goetzke published his translation of around 500 letters by Debussy into German.