Helmut Koch

Helmut Koch (5 April 190826 January 1975) was a German conductor, choir leader, composer, and academic teacher. He was recording manager for the Berliner Rundfunk from 1945, where he founded the Solistenvereinigung Berlin, the Kammerorchester Berlin and the Großer Chor des Berliner Rundfunks. He conducted a recording of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in 1949, and later also contemporary classical music by composers including Hanns Eisler, Fritz Geißler, Ernst Hermann Meyer and Ruth Zechlin. He was professor at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" from its beginning. After working as a regular guest conductor at the Staatsoper Berlin, he became Generalmusikdirektor. He was the first conductor of the Berliner Singakademie in East Berlin, and held the position until his death.

Life and career Koch was born in Barmen, now part of Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia. He was drafted to the Volkssturm in February 1945. In the 1950s, he was appointed professor of conducting at the new Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler". He held the position until his death.

View of music For Koch, music old and new was a medium able to transform people; therefore composers and performers should handle it responsibly. He rejected a division of old and new music, saying: "Everything we do, we do for the people who live now, and who think and feel as today's. ("Alles, was wir machen, machen wir für die Menschen, die jetzt leben, als Heutige denken und empfinden.")