Helmut Zapf

Helmut Zapf was born on March 4, 1956, in Thuringia. From 1974 to 1979, he studied church music in Eisenach. He then served as cantor in Eisenberg (Thuringia) for three years.

From 1982 to 1986, he studied composition as a master student at the Academy of Arts of the GDR under Georg Katzer. Since then, he has worked as a freelance composer and lives in Zepernick near Berlin.

Since 1990, he has also taught composition at the SVA (Social and Cultural Association) at the Kreuzberg and Neukölln music schools.

In 1993, Zapf was appointed director of the workshop for the “Jugend Komponiert” (Youth Composes) competition in the state of Brandenburg.

Prizes, scholarships, and residencies in Germany and abroad followed, including in Switzerland, the USA, France, Belgium, South Korea, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, and Poland.

In 2015, he was appointed a member of the Music Section of the Academy of Arts, Berlin.

2023 State Order of Merit of Brandenburg.

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