Heribert Beissel

Heribert Beissel (27 March 1933 – 11 June 2021) was a German conductor. While based in Bonn for decades, as conductor at the Bonn Opera and as founder and conductor of the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, he also held leading positions in Halle (Saale) and Frankfurt (Oder) after the German reunification. His discography covers composers from Bach to Debussy. Life and career Born in Wesel, Beissel attended the Collegium Augustinianum Gaesdonck, a humanistic gymnasium. He studied piano and conducting at the Hochschule für Musik Köln, conducting with Günter Wand and composition with Frank Martin. He began his conducting career as a repetiteur and soon Kapellmeister at the Bonn Opera in 1955, where he remained until 1964. He founded the Chur Cölnisches Solistenensemble in 1958, dedicated to the music at the Bonn court of the Electors of Cologne. In 1968, he also founded the . Beissel was the chief conductor of the Hamburger Symphoniker from 1971 to 1985. During this period, he also collaborated with the Hamburg State Opera and the Hamburg Ballet directed by John Neumeier. He was conductor of the Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen at the Folkwang Hochschule from 1979 to 1984. In 1986, the Chur Cölnisches Orchester was expanded to the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn.