Siglind Bruhn

Siglind Bruhn (* 11 October 1951 in Hamburg) is aGerman musicologist and concert pianist.

Biographical Sketch

Siglind Bruhn grew up in Hamburg. Her father was the engineer Ernst Bruhn, her mother the interpreter Leonore Bruhn née Kieberger. During the last two years before her high-school graduation (Abitur 1970), she was a student in the piano class of professor Eckart Besch at the Musikhochschule Hamburg. She completed her studies in the master class of Wladimir Horbowski [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wladimir_Horbowski] at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart; 1975 State Examen (equivalent to a Master of Music) majoring in piano. Concurrently she read Romance Literature, Comparative Literature, and Philosophy at Munich University; 1976 Magister Artium (M.A.) with a thesis on the drama of Ramón del Valle-Inclán. During this time she met her future husband, the philosopher Gerhold K. Becker. In 1976-78 Siglind Bruhn wrote her first book, which links the pedagogicalheritage of her teacher Horbowski with first attempts at her own research. After another four years of teaching she entered the university and music university of Vienna for doctoral studies; 1985 Dr. phil. summa cum laude with an interdisciplinary dissertation in music analysis and psychoanalysis. Two years later she followed her husband, who had accepted a position in Hong Kong, and taught for six years at The University of Hong Kong. During her first sabbatical (1993-1994), which she spent at the University of Michigan, USA, she was invited to the Institute for the Humanities, where she is currently a Life Research Associate.

Positions

* 1975-1976 Piano Teacher, City of Stuttgart Music School
* 1977-1978 Piano Teacher, Conservatoire de Musique, Geneva
* 1978-1982 Musical Director, Community of Unterhaching Music School
* 1982-1987 Director and Lecturer, Institut für Musikalische Interpretation, Dinkelsbühl
* 1984-1987 Director and Lecturer, Pianisten-Akademie, Ansbach
* 1987-1994 Director of Studies in Music, School for Professional and Continuing Education, The University of Hong Kong
* 1993-1997 Research Associate, Institute for the Humanities, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
* since 1997 Life Research Associate, Institute for the Humanities, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Awards

* 2001 Elected ordinary member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
* 2002 Distinguished Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Christianity and the Arts, University of Copenhagen
* 2005 Chercheur invité, Institut d’esthétique des arts contemporains, University of Paris 1–Sorbonne
* 2008 Honorary doctorate (Dr. phil. h.c.) from Växjö University, Sweden

Book Publications (English only)

* "Guidelines to Piano Interpretation", Penerbit Muzikal Malaysia, 1989. ISBN 967-985-180-x
* "J. S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier: In-depth Analysis and Interpretation". Mainer International, 1993. ISBN 962-580-017-4, 962-580-018-2, 962-580-019-0, 962-580-020-0
* "Images and Ideas in Modern French Piano Music: The Extra-musical Subtext in Piano Works by Ravel, Debussy and Messiaen", Peter Lang 1997. ISBN 0-945193-95-5
* "The Temptation of Paul Hindemith: Mathis der Maler as a Spiritual Testimony", Pendragon, 1998. ISBN 1-57647-013-x
* "Musical Ekphrasis: Composers Responding to Poetry and Painting", Pendragon, 2000. ISBN 0-945193-036-9
* "Musical Ekphrasis in Rilke’s Marienleben", Rodopi, 2000. ISBN 90-420-0800-8
* "Saints in the Limelight: Representations of the Religious Quest on the Post-1945 Operatic Stage", Pendragon, 2003. ISBN 1-57647-096-2
* "The Musical Order of the World: Kepler, Hesse, Hindemith", Pendragon, 2005. ISBN 978-1-57647-117-3
* "Messiaen’s Contemplations of Covenant and Incarnation: Musical Symbols of Faith in the Two Great Piano Cycles of the 1940s", Pendragon, 2007. ISBN 978-1-57647-129-6

Editorial Work

Essay Collections published as contributing author
* "Messiaen's Language of Mystical Love". New York: Garland 1998. ISBN 0-8153-2747-1
* "Encrypted Messages in Alban Berg's Music". New York: Garland 1998. ISBN 0-8153-2480-4
* "Signs in Musical Hermeneutic" ["The American Journal of Semiotics" 13/1-4] , 1998. ISSN 0277-7126
* "Voicing the Ineffable: Musical Representations of Religious Experience". Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press 2002. ISBN 1-57647-089-1

* Since 2000 series editor (together with Magnar Breivik, University of Trondheim, Norway) of the book series “Interplay: Music in Interdisciplinary Dialogue” published by Pendragon Press

Performances

First solo recitals and performances as soloist with orchestras at age 14. Solo and chamber music recitals in almost every major city in West Germany, as well as in 22 other countries on all five continents (e.g.: Zurich, London, Paris, Bordeaux, Lisbon, Warsaw, Budapest, Venice,Athens, Beirut, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, Quito, Manila, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Melbourne, Adelaide, Washington). Recordings with most broadcasting companies in Western Germany and several European and Non-European stations. One LP and four CDs.
* Maurice Ravel: "Histoires Naturelles", Modest Mussorgski: "Songs and Dances of Death". Cornelia Kallisch, mezzo-soprano; Siglind Bruhn, piano. LM-M E 2011 1984)
* Paul Hindemith: Five Sonatas for String Instruments and Piano. [a] Andrew Jennings, violin; [b] Yizhak Schotten, viola; [c] Bruce Smith, viola d’amore; [d] Anthony Elliott, violoncello; [e] Derek Weller, double bass; piano: Siglind Bruhn, [a] , [c] , [e] , Katherine Collier [b] , Anton Nel [d] . Equilibrium 1995.
* Paul Hindemith: Five Sonatas for Woodwind Instruments and Piano. [a] Leone Buyse, flute; [b] Harry Sargous, oboe; [c] Fred Ormand, clarinet; [d] Harry Sargous, English horn; [e] Richard Beene, bassoon; piano: Siglind Bruhn, [a] , [b] , [e] , Anton Nel [c] , [d] . Equilibrium 1995.
* Paul Hindemith: Five Sonatas for Brass Instruments and Piano. [a] Charles Darval, trumpet; [b] Bryan Kennedy, French horn; [c] Charles Darval, alto horn; [d] H. Dennis Smith, trombone; [e] Fritz Kaenzig, tuba; piano: Siglind Bruhn, [a] , [b] , [e] , Robert Conway [c] , Anton Nel [d] . Equilibrium 1996.
* Paul Hindemith: "Ludus Tonalis" and "Reihe kleiner Stücke". Siglind Bruhn, piano. Equilibrium 1996.

External links

* [http://umich.edu/~siglind homepage] at the University of Michigan
* [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siglind_Bruhn German-language publications]