Hour of Organ Music at St. Aurelius - Prof. Johannes Lang

Bach and the Thomas Organists

Professor Johannes Lang is a guest in the ancient little church in the Black Forest with its beautifully sounding organ from the Rohlf workshop. The program connects Bach's work with that of his closest colleague, the Thomas organist, who played the organ during his cantata performances and was also heard solo in the services of St. Thomas Church. Works by Ammerbach, Kuhnau, Görner, Piutti, and others will be performed from the long line of significant organists. And of course, from Johann Sebastian Bach.

Johannes Lang was born in 1989 in Düsseldorf. He studied church music (organ with Prof. Martin Schmeding, improvisation with Prof. Karl Ludwig Kreutz), historical keyboard instruments/harpsichord with Prof. Dr. Robert Hill, and concert organ at the Freiburg University of Music. After winning eleven first prizes as an organist, harpsichordist, and pianist at the national competition "Jugend musiziert," he was awarded as an organist in competitions in Lübeck (Buxtehude Competition 2009), Bellelay (2011), Leipzig (Bach Competition 2012), and was a prizewinner in competitions in Ljubljana (2007), Herford (2008), and Munich (ARD Competition 2011). He was a scholarship holder of the German Music Life Foundation and the German National Academic Foundation and is dedicated to an intensive, worldwide concert activity.

After positions as a church musician in Freiburg and as city cantor in Lörrach, he served as cantor at the Friedenskirche Potsdam-Sanssouci for five years starting in October 2016, as well as a lecturer for artistic organ playing, organ improvisation, and harpsichord at the Institute for Church Music at the University of the Arts Berlin. On January 6, 2022, Johannes Lang was introduced to his position as Thomas organist during a festive service and has since been experienced in services, motets, concerts, and organ tours at St. Thomas Church. A focus of his work is his engagement with continuo playing according to historical sources on both large and small organs, as well as improvisation. In November 2022, he was awarded the Markgräfler Art Prize for his artistic work.

Johannes Lang teaches organ at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig, which appointed him as an honorary professor on December 20, 2023. His initiative for the project "Gravity Bach," in which he will perform the entire organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach in St. Thomas Church Leipzig in 22 hours on Reformation Day 2025, received particular attention, and this will also be experienced worldwide via ARTE Concert. Additionally, he is involved in the board work of the German Bell Museum e.V., the Central German Organ Society Altenburg e.V., and the Foundation of the Canons of St. Thomas. Various activities as a juror, lecturer in masterclasses, radio and CD recordings (including Clavierübung III with the Bach Foundation St. Gallen and his debut CD "In the Spirit of Bach" as Thomas organist with the Rondeau label), and training as a bell expert expand his profile.