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Biography

Heinrich Walther was born in 1959. He studied piano and sacred music from 1978 until 1985 at the Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik in Freiburg, Germany. His organ instructor was Zsigmond Szathmary and his piano instructors were Jürgen Klodt and Andreas Immer. In 1983 he received his piano teaching degree, graduating “Künstlerische Reifeprüfung” in organ. In 1985 he graduated with an A-Exam in church music.

Having received a DAAD scholarship from the German government, Mr. Walther studied organ with Xavier Darasse at the Toulouse Conservatory in 1983 and 1984, resulting in the First Prize in organ. In 1985 and 1986 he studied with Robert Anderson and Larry Palmer in Dallas, Texas. He received awards in both the 1986 San Antonio Organ Competition and the 1987 Nurnberg International Pachelbel Competition.

From 1986 to 1992 Mr. Walther was the Organist and Choir Director at the St. Ulrich Church near Freiburg. Since 1989 he has been on the faculty of the Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik in Freiburg. From 1990 to 1993 he taught organ at the Nurnberg Conservatory. Since 1994 he has been an organ teacher at the Hochschule fur Kirchenmusik in Rottenburg. From 1998 to 2000 he also taught organ at the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Hochschule fur Musik in Leipzig. Since 2002 he has been a faculty member of the Evangelische Hochschule für Kirchenmusik in Heidelberg.

Heinrich Walther is a regular international performer. His extensive organ and clavichord solo repertoire includes much of the traditional organ and keyboard works and other compositions like J.S. Bach’s ‘Art of the Fugue’. He has given several
first performances of contemporary organ compositions. He has also transcribed and performed his
own transcriptions of orchestra works by Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn: "The Fingals Cave" and the Reformation Symphony op. 107, and Franck: Symphony in D minor as well as Psyche, Symphonic Poem.

In addition he has made recordings for broadcasts in France (Franck, Reger, Reubke, Bach), Germany, Japan (NHK), Spain (Poulenc and Handel concertos with the National Orchestra), “Ex-Yugoslavia”, and Kharkov for Ukraine television. He has been invited to participate in organ festivals and concert series in Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, Island, Canada, Japan, Korea, Russia, the USA, and the Ukraine. Iceland, Korea, Ukraine, and the U.S.A. have invited Heinrich to give masterclasses. In 1997 he founded the Summer School for Organ, Clavichord (Michael Fuerst), and Harpsichord in Neuf Brisach, France. Since 2002 he has taught clavichord courses every summer in Colmar and in Chapaize, Burgundy, France.

From 2006-2016 he was organist at St. Matthieu, Colmar