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Justus Frantz - A life in music
Justus Frantz - a name
which is immediately associated with great orchestras and absolute
dedication to music. For thirty years, Justus Frantz has been
internationally successful as a pianist and conductor. He has rendered
outstanding services to classical music on many occasions. Time and
again, he has discovered and supported young musical talent. Therefore,
in many countries on the Philharmonia of the Nations tour, auditions
are a fixed item on his agenda - an excellent opportunity for young
musicians worldwide to start a career in music. A young talent is discovered
Justus
Frantz began his extraordinary musical career in 1967, when he won an
international music competition on a famous German television station.
He began playing the piano at the age of four. Early on, Professor
Eliza Hansen recognized and fostered his talent. Studies of conducting
in the master class held by Wilhelm Kempff contributed to his state of
the art musical education. At the age of 23, Justus Frantz was one of
the youngest artists ever to be granted a scholarship by the
Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes (German National Scholarship
Foundation). Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein prepared the way for his further musical career
In
1970, Justus Frantz rose into the group of first-class pianists with
the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan. He
celebrated his US debut five years later with the New York Philharmonic
Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein, whose musical ideals he
continues to adhere to. Bernstein's dream of an international, young
and professional orchestra inspired Justus Frantz to found the
Philharmonia of the Nations in 1995. Many awards distinguish his excellent work
Justus
Frantz always succeeds in getting his music across to a broad audience
in an unconventional manner. In 1986, he founded the Schleswig-Holstein
Music Festival and was its director for nine years turning it into one
of the world's greatest music festivals.
He has been awarded several
television prizes of high prestige for the highly successful TV
programmes that he has produced. Since 1989, Justus Frantz has been a
special ambassador for the UN High Commission for Refugees and in the
same year he received the German equivalent to the OBE, the Grosse
Bundesverdienstkreuz.
Justus Frantz is the chief conductor of the
Philharmonia of the Nations and works on a regular basis with renowned
orchestras all over the world, such as the Orchestra of the
Mariinsky-Kirov Theatre in St. Petersburg, the China Philharmonic
Orchestra, the Great Symphony Orchestra Moscow, the KZN Philharmonic
Orchestra Durban, the Georgian Chamber Orchestra and the Sinfonia
Varsovia.
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