Hans Drewanz

Hans Drewanz (2 December 1929 – 22 June 2021) was a German conductor and academic teacher. He was the Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of Darmstadt for more than three decades, shaping musical life in the town especially at the Staatstheater Darmstadt.

Life Hans Drewanz was born in Dresden on 2 December 1929. He grew up in Berlin with a brother named Hubertus.

In 1963, Drewanz was appointed Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, then the youngest GMD in Germany He shaped the musical theatre and concerts for more than three decades until 1994, then became its honorary member. During his tenure, he conducted operas such as Henze's Der Prinz von Homburg, Schoeck's Penthesilea, Rimsky-Korsakov's Der goldene Hahn, Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, Britten's Tod in Venedig, and the operas by Wolfgang Fortner. In concerts, he performed the complete works by Gustav Mahler when the composer was not yet popular, and covered 400 years of music history from Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine and Charpentier's Magnificat to Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Hans Ulrich Engelmann's Stele für Georg Büchner.

Awards 1980: . 2016: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.