S02E17 - Udo Zimmermann

Greenroom Conversations

Udo Zimmermann, Church Musician, started at age 15 playing the organ in his local church and then made his way to Studium der Kirchenmusik in Rottenburg am Neckar, Germany and later to Frankfurt am Main University becoming a church musician which means studying singing, organ and conducting. He is now head of Church Music (organist) at Pfarrei St. Peter and Paul in Zurich Switzerland. We talked about the path in Germany/Switzerland for a church musician, what they study and the skills they need for their positions. Udo is the Head of Church Music at the Hochschule of Music in Luzern where he teaches liturgical singing and organ playing and the practice of a church musician such as creating music for the mass. We talked about; his own skills of singing, conducting, how he teaches students improvisation at the organ, pipe organs, historical pipe organs, the value of the church tradition in Europe, the choice of traditional and contemporary church music and the hymn tradition of four part singing vs. one line song singing.