Goetz Richter

GOETZ RICHTER made a sterling contribution to the German translation of Elizabeth Powell's website.

Violinist Goetz Richter is currently Associate Professor and Chair of Strings at the Sydney Conservatorium. He was born in Hamburg, Germany where he received his early violin tuition from Helmut Heller, Concertmaster of the Hamburg State Opera Orchestra. Following further studies in Munich with Gerhart Hetzel (who remains an important musical and spiritual inspiration) and in Berne with Max Rostal Goetz was appointed Concertmaster of the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra in 1985. Following a brief engagement with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Goetz was appointed Associate Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1987. He remained in that position until 2002, participating in several international tours to the US, Europe and Japan and performing with conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Charles Dutoit, Edo de Waart, Mariss Jansons, David Zinman and others.

As a member of numerous chamber ensembles he has appeared for Musica Viva Australia, the Sydney Symphony's chamber music series "Music for Spring" and has given frequent broadcasts for ABC-FM and 2 MBS-FM. In 1984 he founded the annual Camden Haven Chamber Music Festival which he directed until 2003. Geotz performs regularly as a recitalist with his wife and duo partner pianist Jeanell Carrigan.

He is currently Artistic Director of the Kendall National Violin Competition and has served as a jury member of the 2002 Maazel-Villar conducting competition in Sydney. In 2002 Goetz was invited to take up an Associate Professorship at the Sydney Conservatorium where he had been a lecturer in violin since 1988 and the Chair of the Strings Unit since 1997. His students have been successful in gaining positions with leading symphony orchestras as permanent members of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Berlin Symphony and as members of orchestral academies of the North German Radio Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Zurich Opera, Berlin Philharmonic and others. His class in Sydney includes a number of highly gifted young violinists who have been invited to participate in national and international competitions including most recently the Menuhin Competition. Goetz is currently the President of the NSW Chapter of AUSTA and directs the Concerts of the Sydney Schubert Society.

Goetz holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Sydney and publishes and presents papers on the philosophy of Plato, Nietzsche, music and philosophy. His recent translation of Eugen Fink's "Nietzche's philosophy" was published by Continuum Press (2002)