Wolfgang Schäfer (born 7 April 1945) is a German choral conductor and academic teacher. He founded the Freiburger Vokalensemble, the BosArt Trio, and the Frankfurter Kammerchor.
Also in 1982 he was the director of the Frankfurter Kantorei, succeeding Kurt Thomas and Rilling. He conducted the choir until 1997. In 2008 he founded the Frankfurter Kammerchor. Schäfer has been a juror at international music competitions. He has been the artistic director of the annual Staufener Musikwoche in his hometown. Since his student days, Schäfer has also been a member of the musical comedy group BosArt Trio [de].[4]
In 1990 he recorded Telemann's cantataDie Tageszeiten with Mechthild Bach, Mechthild Georg, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Johannes Mannov, the Freiburger Vokalensemble and Collegium Musicum, the second commercial recording of the cantata.[6] In 2003 he recorded Telemann's PassionDas selige Erwägen des bittern Leiden und Sterbens Jesu Christi with Barbara Locher, Zeger Vandersteene, Stefan Dörr, Berthold Possemeyer, Jesus-Rene Schmidt, the Freiburger Vokalensemble and L'arpa festante, then probably the only recording of the work.[7]
After retiring from the Musikhochschule Frankfurt, Schäfer founded the Frankfurter Kammerchor, mostly formed by alumni of the Hochschule. He conducted the chamber choir in concerts in the Limburg Cathedral, St. Martin, Idstein, and the Stiftskirche, Stuttgart, among others. He designed a program for Advent which includes several settings of Ave Maria and Jan Sandström's Es ist ein Ros entsprungen.[8]
Awards
1981: BBC competition "Let the Peoples Sing", first prize with the Freiburger Vokalensemble
1984: Wettbewerb der Europäischen Rundfunkunion, first prize with the Freiburger Vokalensemble