Peter von Wienhardt  is a pianist, composer and arranger and recently he has been devoting a significant amount of his time to conducting. 

It is one of his distinctive characteristics; to continuously seek out or create new trends in music. Over time improvisation, re-arrangement and cadence have become an integral part of not only his daily life but also his art and teaching. The search for meaning and character of music is the central element of his work. 

In his concerts he shares his philosophy as well as musical and cultural contexts of the works verbally with his audience. His technical and sight-reading skills have enabled him to build an enormous repertoire taking into account off the beaten path works.

As a performer, composer, arranger of music Peter von Wienhardt is committed to the underlying intention of the piece and as a conductor he strives to serve the orchestra. He employs both the piano as well the orchestra as a tool to breathe life into a piece and honor it with the expression it deserves. Every piece is approached with creativity; its various sources range from analytical organization, structure, re-arrangement to spontaneous response to the space, situation and audience. Peter von Wienhard does not shy away from the "seemingly impossible", "unperformable" or extremely complicated works. On the contrary he welcomes the challenge to clarify insane compositions or confusing processes for the audience. Whether Renaissance or Contemporary works he firmly believes that "every work deserves to be performed at least once as intended by the composer and let history make its choice after that.”

As an educator Peter von Wienhardt pays his respect to the traditional program but also, and more importantly, he focuses on identification and holistic support of the student’s individual strengths. Peter is also skilled in detecting weaknesses in his students and distinguishing whether to invest into their correction or rather focus on the young musicians’ particular strengths to avoid the loss of momentum and energy in the educational process. 

The focus in his master classes lies in preparation for exams and international competitions. Although he prefers to stay away from the hassle of competition committees, his students have been successful in both national and international competitions (among others 1 Prize in “Jugend Musiziert” in Germany, 1 Prize Steinway Competition).

Experience:

Childhood teachers: Prof. Lang Eta, Budapest, Karl Wilhelm Berger, Stuttgart, Georges Cziffra, Paris.

Degree at the University of Music Stuttgart (Diploma and artistic training) with Prof. Oleg Maisenberg.

Master classes among others by: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, George Cziffra, Laszlo Gyimesi, Konrad Richter.

Educational master classes, among others with: György Sebök, György Kurtag, Werner Scholz.

Composition and musical aesthetics  with Helmut Lachenmann, Ulrich Suesse, Joachim Kaiser, Erhard Karkoschka, Mirko Kelemen, Tom Koopman,


Peter von Wienhardt played in virtually all known concert halls of the world as a soloist and chamber musician. To name a few outside Germany: Goldener Saal - Vienna, Smetana Hall - Prague, Franz Liszt Conservatory - Budapest, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra Hall - large hall, Suntory Hall - Tokyo, Seoul Sejong Arts Hall & Hall - Soul, Salle Gaveau - Paris La Fenice - Venice, Atheneul - Bucharest, Carnegie Hall - New York, Bellas Artes - Mexico City. Peter of Wienhardt traveled to more than 120 countries as a musician and is probably one of the few who gave a concert in the same year both in Greenland and in the Antarctic, (not just for the penguins).

Peter von Wienhardt has conducted a large number of master classes in and outside of Germany. For several years he has been received as a guest in all known universities of South Korea. He also gave master classes in the Philippines (Manila, Davao), Japan (Tokyo, Fujisawa, Sapporo) and USA (Cleveland Encore school, Boston Harvard). From 1998 to 2012 he taught chamber music in the internationally acclaimed Orchestra Academy at the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival where he had a chance to share his passion for historical performing styles with the most promising young musicians from all over the world.

Through the intense cooperation with numerous orchestras, Peter von Wienhardt grew into the role of conducting the orchestra himself. He has cooperated as a soloist or conductor with: Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttart, European Music Festival, Festival Orchestra of Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, Radio Philharmonic Bucharest, Classical Philharmonic, Südwestdeutsches Kammerorschester, Korean Chamber orchestra, German Philharmonie Bonn and many more. Meanwhile he founded his own project orchestra, the "Philharmonica Westfalica" which stages programs arranged especially for themself, unusual Programs and combinations between music in the movies, Rock orchestra Projects and Pop music Programs are their speciality.

Peter received many awards (including Bartok, Cziffra Liszt, German Music Council, Echo Klassik, etc.) and published thirteen recordings as a soloist, with orchestras and as a chamber musician. His latest CD “Rhapsody” has been well received by critics. Since 2006 Peter von Wienhardt holds a professorship for Piano and Crossover in Münster and is director of the Aaseerenaden Münster, one of the best classical open-air festivals in Germany. Also since 2015 he is also the artistic director of the International Music Festival Mittelrhein.