Markus Schäfer

Where were you born? Andernach on the river Rhine.

Where do you live? Butzbach close to Frankfurt.

Why did you start playing music? 
I love it.

What is your favourite instrument?     
Singing , the voice.

What music did you listen to as a child?         
 Some Mozart and of course all the hits from the 70 ties.

What was your first record?
I think it was Frank Zappa named Chunga’s Revenge some rock’n Roll.

What musical period would you like to live in?  
 I feel comfortable in « now »  

Where do you prefer to listen to music?
At home or with friends 

Where can we find you when you are not making music?
« Excursions » somewhere around, must not be far away, but enjoying simply nature and valleys around.

Where did you study?
In Karlsruhe, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf 

What awards have you received?    
Grammy award for Matthäus-Passion J.S.Bach with Harnoncourt  , best recording of the month : « Sommersneige » by Wilhelm Killmayer  by MAGAZIN FONOFORUM ; lots of other nominations.

Who is your favourite composer?
No. Too hard to choose.

Which composer would you like the public to rediscover?  
I want to make people listen to Max Reger songs!!! It is the 150th anniversary and the songs are mostly undiscovered!     

 What is your first recording?
Leise zieht durch mein Gemüth  a recording from Mendelssohn songs accompanied by the guitar duo Klaus und Rainer Feldmann /Berlin/ NCA.

What is your favourite recording? (Passacaglia, with you)   
 The Schubert one « The small song cycles » with my dear colleague Zvi Meniker on Hammerflügel  

What is your favourite Passacaille recording? (Passacaille, other artist)   
 CPE Bach flute quartets      

Who do you dream of recording with? (realistic or not)    
Nobody concrete, but it would be fun to dream about recording together with   for example Mr Frescobaldi in renaissance time……    

Which piece have you never recorded but would like to? 
 I would dream about doing some Schütz, Monteverdi, Frescobaldi stuff  or some really new stuff experimentation in my own regie

What do you do before a concert?    
Drink an espresso  

What do you do after a concert?      
I love to drive home at night right after the show…. no traffic but night and relaxing while driving through the streets   

What would you do if you were not a musician?     Hard to tell, I love being a musician… others  would be a very exciting question… who really knows ?   

Anything important to add?        
Important is to keep on being curious and looking for challenges