Prof. Matthias Maierhofer

Training

Matthias Maierhofer studied organ, early music and church music at the universities of Graz, Freiburg, Leipzig and at the Schola Cantorum in Basel. Among his teachers were Arvid Gast, Andrea Marcon, Kurt Neuhauser and Martin Schmeding.

Artistic Career

In 2007, Matthias Maierhofer was the winner of one of the most renowned international organ competitions: the Pachelbel Competition in Nuremberg. He was also a prize winner at the International Franz Schmidt Organ Competition in Kitzbühel in 2008, at the International Bach Competition in Arnstadt in 2007, at the International Organ Concours in Nijmegen in 2006 and at the International Organ Competition «M.K.Ciurlionis» in Vilnius in 2003. Since then, regular concert activities have taken him to important concert venues and festivals in Europe, the USA, Russia, Japan and South Korea. As a soloist and continuo player, Matthias Maierhofer has performed with ensembles such as the Dresdner Kreuzchor, the Thomanerchor Leipzig, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Staatskapelle Halle. At the Freiburger Münster he performs weekly with the Domsingknaben, the girls' choir, the cathedral Domkapelle and the cathedral choir. He was involved in CD productions and publications by Edition Helbling, recordings are available for various radio stations and through the labels Ambitus, Ambiente and Spektral.

From 2009 to 2013, Matthias Maierhofer led an organ class at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theater in Leipzig. In 2013 Matthias Maierhofer was appointed as the successor to Prof. Dr. Gerre Hancock to the professorship for organ and church music at the University of Texas in Austin (USA). There he was named a Dean's Fellow in 2015 for outstanding educational achievements and was awarded the Ducloux Fellowship of the College of Fine Arts. From 2014 to 2016, Matthias Maierhofer was the organist at the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Austin, which houses two of the most important American instruments from the Harvard University collection: the historic Holbrook organ and Charles Fisk’s grand organ op. 46.

Matthias Maierhofer has been a professor of organ at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg since 2016 and also works as cathedral organist at the Münster ‹Unserer Lieben Frau› in Freiburg. As artistic director of the Freiburg Cathedral organ concerts, he is responsible for one of the leading international organ concert series. His teaching activities as a guest professor and lecturer at international masterclasses are linked to the Kitzbühel Organ Academy in Austria and have recently taken him to Yale University (USA), the Korean National University of the Arts (South Korea) and the Paderewski Academy in Poland, among others.

Students from his organ class have received over 50 national and international awards in important competitions, scholarship programs and foundations in recent years, including: the St. Albans International Organ Competition (GB), International Organ Competition in Miami (USA), Tokyo-Musashino Organ Competition (Japan), Silbermann Competition Freiberg (Germany), Mendelssohn Competition Berlin (Germany), International Organ Competition «Organ without Borders» Dudelange (Luxembourg), Daniel Herz Competition Brixen (Italy), International Organ Competition Korschenbroich (Germany), The London Organ Competition (GB), Maria Hofer Competition Kitzbühel (Austria), Rheinberger Competition Vaduz (Liechtenstein), Faszination Organ Competition Mannheim (Germany), International Lazlo Spezferatti Competition Verona (Italy), Prix International Boellmann-Gigout Strasbourg (France), International Suisse Organ Competition St. Maurice (Switzerland). Furthermore, students of Matthias Maierhofer have been awarded the Deutschlandstipendium, the DAAD scholarship, the E.T.A. Hoffmann Scholarship, the Albertus Magnus and Hildegardis Scholarship, the Rosenberg Scholarship and the Recruitment Fellowship of the University of Texas and have also been accepted into the funding programs of the Cusanus Foundation, the Bucerius Foundation, the German Foundation for Music Life and the German National Academic Foundation.