06.04.2024

THOMAS QUASTHOFF celebrates 50 years performing on the international stage

There is hardly a musical summit that bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff has not yet reached. It is no coincidence that the three-time Grammy winner and recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is one of the country’s most prominent artistic personalities. Characterised above all by his irrepressible curiosity, Quasthoff has never rested on his laurels, always seeking further artistic challenges. Even in the year of his 50th stage anniversary, the artist demonstrates just how diverse his artistry is, effortlessly crossing the boundaries of classical music, jazz, pop and the spoken word.

A farewell to his classical career, but that wasn’t the end...

Thomas Quasthoff called the curtain on his career as a classical bass-baritone in 2012. But rather than just enjoying a well-earned retirement, he decided to concentrate his passion into other avenues, as a jazz singer, reciter, actor, professor and presenter, and continues to delight international audiences with varied music and theatre programmes. In 2024, there will also be a reunion with old acquaintances, when Quasthoff can be heard as a speaker in Schönberg's Gurre-Lieder in April with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle at the Isarphilharmonie in Munich and then in September with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under Alan Gilbert at the Elbphilharmonie. On the more intimate stage, he will continue to capture audiences with the spoken word in his the project Humanity in War, taking him to Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Using letters and diary extracts from the First World War, Quasthoff and the Amatis Trio bring these voices to life with selected music from the (late) Romantic and modern eras to emphasise the content of the accounts.

A second calling as professor, pop singer and jazz singer

After putting the world of classical music to one side - at least as a singer - Thomas Quasthoff turned to his passion for jazz singing into a newfound success. An extensive anniversary tour with his jazz trio and quartet will take him to the Dortmund Concert Hall, the Elbphilharmonie, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Cologne Philharmonie and beyond in 2024.

Quasthoff can also be heard with this repertoire at the Verbier Festival in July, where he will also be giving masterclasses on another subject close to his heart: teaching. From 1996-2004, Thomas Quasthoff held a professorship at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold; since then he has taught at the Hochschule für " Musik Hanns Eisler" in Berlin. His commitment to young singers even drove him to found the international "Das Lied" competition as part of the Heidelberger Frühling festival in 2009.

Quasthoff has proven his talent for acting with his series "kurz und knapp" at the Komödie am Kurfürstendamm since June 2019, while most recently in February 2024, together with Katharina Thalbach and Corinna Harfouch, he presented a programme of popular West German and East German hits.

In addition to his unique talent, it is precisely this open, experimental approach that has given the artist Thomas Quasthoff a career unrivalled worldwide, in spite of the many obstacles. Simply put, Thomas Quasthoff is in a category of his own.