Dietrich Knothe

He is the winner of the 1985 Handel Prize presented by the city of Halle.

At the age of 10, he joined the Thomanerchor of the St. Thomas School, Leipzig under conductor Günther Ramin in 1939.

[2] In 1955, he founded the "Capella Lipsiensis",[3] an ensemble of soloists with whom he mainly performed music of the Renaissance and the Baroque eras.

[4] For political reasons Knothe was dismissed without notice in 1962 when he and his choir gave up singing the National Anthem after a concert.

[5] Until he was appointed vice-director of the Berliner Singakademie in 1966, Knothe was a taxi driver and pianist in a ballet school.