Gotthold Schwarz

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Gotthold Schwarz (born 2 May 1952 in Zwickau) is a German bass-baritone and conductor based in Leipzig. He began his musical career as a member of the Thomanerchor in 1964 and later worked with the choir as a singer and conductor. He studied church music in Dresden and then voice, organ and conducting in Leipzig, with private lessons from famous musicians. After graduating, he sang cantatas and oratorios and became vocal coach of the Thomanerchor in 1979; he served as deputy and interim cantor in 1992, 1999 and 2002/03, and was interim conductor in 2011.

From 2016 to 2021 he was the 17th Thomaskantor, leading the Thomanerchor in the Bach tradition. Schwarz has conducted the Gewandhausorchester and performed with major ensembles at festivals around the world. He recorded Bach cantatas with John Eliot Gardiner and with the Thomanerchor. He founded Concerto Vocale Leipzig in 1984 and the Saxon Baroque Orchestra in 1990, and in 1993 formed a baroque trio focused on Bach family music. He has taught at the Leipzig College of Music since 1986 and served as a juror for the International Bach Competition in 2004. He lives in Leipzig.