Florian Helgath
Florian Helgath has been artistic director of ChorWerk Ruhr since November 2011. Helgath's initial experience as a musician was as a boy soprano singing in his hometown with the Regensburger Domspatzen. At the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, he studied choral conducting under Prof. Michael Gläser, completing his studied in the spring of 2008 with a master class diploma. The then completed his training with prominent conductors such as Stefan Parkman, Stephen Cleobury, Helmut Rilling, Dan-Olof Stenlund, Simon Halsey, and Jos van Veldhoven. In 2007, he was an active participant at the 2. Chordirigierforum held by Bayerischer Rundfunk and Eric Ericson's master class in Haarlem, the Netherlands.
He has achieved international successes as a finalist and prizewinner at competitions such as Sweden's Eric Ericson Award in 2006 and the 2007 Competition for Young Choral Conductors in Budapest. Florian Helgath is conductor of the Danish Radio Chorus and Munich's Via Nova Chor, with which he conducts numerous premiere performances and has been awarded national and international prizes. He is also a regular guest conductor for the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks and works with RIAS Kammerchor, SWR Vokalensemble, Berliner Rundfunkchor, and the Netherlands Radio Choir. He has also worked with orchestras such as the Danish Chamber Orchestra, the Münchner Symphoniker, or the Georgische Kammerorchester Ingolstadt.