He was born in the Saarland, Germany, in 1944, studied in Herford and Cologne (church music, organ, orchestral conducting, singing). From 1972 to 1997 he was organist and church music director (KMD) and conductor of the Domkantorei Altenberg as weIl as director of the ,,Sacred Music” series at Altenberg cathedral. In 1968 Hempfling founded the world famous Kölner Kantorei. In 1983 he became director of Cologne's Gürzenich-Chor. In 1985 he became professor for choral conducting at the University of music Saarbücken. In 1993 he changed to the the Robert SchumannHochschule in Düsseldorf, where he has been professor of choral conducting, director of the Protestant Church Music division and conductor of the chamber choir until 2004. For 21 years he leads an annually seminar on choral conducting in Freiburg. Since 2003 Hempfling is lecturer of the International Seminars for Choral Conducting in the Bavarian Music Academy following the International Chamber Choir Competitions Marktoberdorf.
In addition to guest conducting appearances in Germany and elsewhere (e.g. Gürzenich Orchestra cologne, radio-orchestra pilsen, orchestras in poland and hungary and several times at the festival Europa Cantat), he acts as a lecturer in conducting and vocal training courses throughout the world. His activities as a jury member at national and international competitions have taken him to Regensburg, Marktoberdorf, Graz, Linz, Cork, Maribor, Tours, Legnica, Busan, Preveza, Tolosa, Budapest and Vilnius.
Leading the following workshop in EUROPA CANTAT Pécs:
A very short conducting seminar for conductors not yet familiar with this topic. A practical help for choral conductors who are planning on conducting an oratorio (including recitatives). Short and easy musical examples by Bach, Mendelssohn, Fank Martin and others.
The main topic of this workshop is to put the focus (as a conductor when starting to work on a new piece) directly on the sound of the choir – let the singers sing without reading the music. This way the ears concentrate more on the sound of their own voice.
Are you looking for modern arrangements of timeless German folk songs? Volker Hempfling edited two interesting choir collections: one for SATB, one for equal voices. With “Lore-Ley”, you can include exciting songs to your concert programme, arranged either in a traditional and easy-to-sing way, or in modern ones – every in slightly “jazzy” versions. Special settings include modern elements such as sprechgesang or onomatopoeias. Come and discover a couple of the most exciting songs!
The international renowned conductor Volker Hempfling will present a new choral anthology with 70 arrangements of Christmas carols from all over the world, arranged by composers from 23 countries. This new publication is part of the award-winning LIEDERPROJEKT by Carus-Verlag and contains many songs of all levels of difficulty for mixed choirs. Two new CDs by the Calmus Ensemble and the Athesinus Consort Berlin will complete the installment with modern, clever arrangements.
