Wolfgang Wagenhäuser – pianist, organist, composer – was born in Frankfurt am
Main (Germany) in 1953. At his insistence the four-year-old Wolfgang asked his
father to taught him piano and theory, and his first concert appearance was at the
age of five. He was organist in his hometown from the age of nine and, as a 13-year-
old gave concerts with his own improvisations. He won various first prizes in youth
competitions, followed by concert invitations in Poland, Hungary and Austria.
Wolfgang Wagenhäuser studied with Wendelin Rückel and Norbert Brecht and
subsequently studied piano with Gisela Sott and Leonard Hokanson at the Frankfurt
University of Music, at the same time studying composition with Kurt Hessenberg
and Hans – Dieter Resch. In 1974 he was the winner of the German University
Competition and in 1980 and 1981 won first prize at international competitions in
Florence and Paris. Over the years he has received special prizes for his Mozart,
Beethoven and Schubert interpretations.
His concerts have taken him throughout Europe from Russia to Spain and from
Sweden to Italy, and has also played in various tours to Morocco, Tunisia, Namibia
and South Africa, Japan, Korea and China. On many tours he played his own
compositions. He has made numerous radio and television appearances, alongside
live recordings, and, in recent years, streaming concerts have been a fascination.
Wolfgang Wagenhäuser has had major world premieres and successful
performances of his works by orchestras and chamber ensembles. Since 1987 he
has been Professor of piano at the State University of Music in Trossingen and from
2015 he has also held a Visiting Professorship in Shanghai at Tongji University,
where he is also one of the senior Rectors of the Interdisciplinary Sound Research
Centre.