Moritz Eggert (born 1965, in Heidelberg, Germany) studied piano and composition at Dr. Hoch´s Konservatorium in Frankfurt (with Wolfgang Wagenhaeuser and Claus Kuehnl), at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt (with Leonard Hokanson) and in Munich at the Musikhochschule Muenchen (with Wilhelm Killmayer). Later he continued his piano studies with Raymund Havenith and Dieter Lallinger, and his composition studies with Hans-Jürgen von Bose in Munich. In 1992 he spent a year in London as a post-graduate composition student with Robert Saxton at the Guildhall School for Music and Drama.

Moritz Eggert has covered all genres in his work – his oeuvre includes 7 operas as well as ballets and works for dance and music theatre, often with unusual performance elements. 1997 German TV produced a feature-length film portrait about his music.

As a pianist he regularly collaborates with many artists, as soloist with orchestra, as chamber music partner in various formations and as a Lied accompanist. In 1996 he presented the complete works for piano solo by Hans Werner Henze for the first time in one concert, in 1989 he was a prizewinner at the International Gaudeamus Competition for Performers of Contemporary Music.

As a composer Moritz Eggert has been awarded with prizes like the composition prize of the Salzburger Osterfestspiele, the Schneider/Schott-prize, the „Ad Referendum“-prize in Montréal, the Siemens Förderpreis for young composers, and the Zemlinsky Prize. 2003 he became a member of the “Bayerische Akademie der Schoenen Kuenste”.

1991 he founded — together with Sandeep Bhagwati — the A*Devantgarde festival for new music, which will take place for the 8th time in June 2005.

His concert-length cycle for piano solo, „Haemmerklavier“, is among his best known works and has been performed around the world.

Moritz Eggert has written 7 operas and several works for music and dance theatre. His last opera, “The Snail”, was performed in Mannheim (directed and written by Hans Neuenfels).

His large “soccer oratorio” for the Ruhrtriennale 2005 and the Soccer World Championship in Germany 2006 was a big success and experienced unprecedented media coverage in German as well as foreign publications. September also saw the premiere of his new double bass concerto, called “primus”, in Germany and Japan.

Moritz Eggert is currently working on the opening ceremony for the FIFA WM 2006 (together with director Christian Stueckl) and a new opera for the Beethovenfest and the Bonn opera house (“Freaks”, together with Hannah Duebgen, premiere September 2007).

(18 March 2006)