Johannes Fritsch

At the age of seven, Fritsch found a violin in the attic of his uncle's house in Bensheim-Auerbach, Germany, and began lessons with a village music teacher named Knapp.

[1] He studied music, sociology, and philosophy from 1961 to 1965 at the University and the Staatliche Musikhochschule in Cologne with, amongst others, Bernd Alois Zimmermann and Gottfried Michael Koenig.

Amongst other things he played viola in the Stockhausen-Ensemble from 1964 to 1970, and took part in the German exhibition at Expo '70, the World's Fair in Osaka in 1970.

[1] In 1966 Fritsch received the Förderpreis (Monetary Award) of the Federal State of North Rhine–Westphalia, and in 1971 the Prize of the Paris Biennale.

[2] From 1984 he was Professor of Composition at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, where his students have included Volker Staub, Caspar Johannes Walter, Juan María Solare, Josef Rebbe, Branimir Krstic and many other composers and improvisors.