He has been playing the violin since he was 6 years old and has studied with Prof. Michael Goldstein (Hamburg University of Music, First Concertmaster of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra), Prof. Wilfried Laatz (Lübeck University of Music), and Prof. Ingolf Turban (Munich University of Music), among others, and continues to be active in various orchestras and chamber music. Since November 2020, he has returned to the IMMM as a tenure-track junior professor.
Die einzige Quelle in der Gegenwart | The only source of the presence
ca. 1870 – 1948
Jean Faber was most likely born in the 1870s. He studied medicine and worked as a practicing surgeon, but was also interested in music and gave informative lectures about musicians, including Beethoven. He also performed as a pianist at a Beethoven celebration, specifically in Beethoven’s Trio in E-flat major for violin, cello, and piano.3 He also acted as a piano accompanist at other concerts. He was married to Marie-Marguerite Bandermann (1864–October 24, 1918).
Dr. Jean Faber was a versatile man and also involved in social activities. He was president of the Luxembourg Medical Society (until 1947) and a member of the Société Belge de Chirurgie.
He was also president of the supervisory committee of the Music Conservatory and the Harmonie d’Eich. He was on the board of the society Les Amis de la Musique, founded in October 1928, and also on the executive committee of the Red Cross. In 1939, a hospital was built in Siebenbrunnen Castle, and he was to take over its management.
In 1947, he resigned from his presidency for health reasons.
The versatile physician Jean Faber was also active as a composer.
The Institut national de Luxembourg, the literary department of the supra-political Union nationale luxembourgeoise, has just published 30 old and modern songs under the title Vun den He’chten an aus den De’ften, with lyrics primarily by Siggy vu Lëtzebuerg (a pseudonym of Lucien Koenig). Composers such as Jean Pierre Beicht, Gustav Kahnt, Goldschmit, Jean Faber, and other anonymous composers contributed to this work.
At the General Assembly of the Medical Society, the Society’s former president, Dr. Jean Faber, also performed as a pianist: a review, whose author is not stated, states that he played the piano masterfully.
List of works (musical sources)
1. Weltliche Vokalwerke (Chorwerke, Kantaten)
Aux Armes (mit Pistonsolo)
Berceuse (Td.: Paul Palgen)
2. Klavierlieder/Melodien
Chanson d´Amour (Td.: Paul Palgen), Melodie
De Lëtzebuerger Stodent (Td.: Putty Stein), Klavierlied
De Mouer (Td.: Putty Stein), Melodie
De Musti (Td.: Putty Stein), Klavierlied , 1918 ersch.
Dem Wirsch seng Wuoden (Td.: Putty Stein), Melodie (UA: 1920 op der Fo’er; von August Donnen gesungen)
De Roosnewupp vum Foussballklub (Td.: Putty Stein, 31.12.1916 gedichtet), Melodie
Fuesend (Td.: Guillaume Lauff, 9.3.1918 gedichtet,) Melodie (UA: August Donnen)
Gräfin Elsa (Td.: Putty Stein), Melodie
Lidd fir den Héil opzehänken (Td.: Putty Stein), Melodie von Jean Faber/Louis Beicht
Nu looss mer eent sangen (Td.: Putty Stein, 1916 gedichtet), Melodie
Prozessionslied
Wann et Feierowend schléit (Td.: Putty Stein), Melodie
3. Orchesterwerke
D’Fuesent, arr. für Orch. von Jean-Pierre Kemmer
4. Blasorchesterwerke
An Amerika (ein Fox-Blues über das gleichnamige Luxemburger Lied: Text von Michel Lentz und Musik von Edmond Lentz)
5. Sammlungen (von Liedern oder Chorwerken)
Vun den He´chten an aus den De´ften (= Sammlung von ca. 30 luxemburgischen alten und modernen Liedern von u. a. Gustav Kahnt, Victor Goldschmit und Jean Faber)
6. Werke mit unbekannter Besetzung
De Lëtzeburger Stodent (Td.: Putty Stei), als Beiheft zu La Voix des Jeunes
Lukas Nowak began playing the piano at the age of 6. At 14, he switched to the organ and received church music training from Helmut Kickton. He also learned the piccolo and guitar and acquired basic proficiency in horn and percussion. As a student, he wrote, among other works, choral and poem settings, a four-movement symphony, and a tone poem for organ and large orchestra (“The Prophecy of the Messiah,” premiered in 2004). He also worked as a choir director until he began his career. Since moving to the branch, he has been performing regularly again.
In addition to the general teaching program in Music Physiology and Musician Medicine, Dr. Nowak offers a special consultation hour for musicians by appointment, which is open to all students and faculty at the University of Music and Performing Arts.
Founded in 1998, the Piano Salon Christophori in the listed Uferhallen in Berlin’s Gesundbrunnen district is a gem for piano lovers and those who aspire to become one. Solo, chamber, and jazz concerts with exquisite programs take place almost daily in the former tram depot, which salon founder Christoph Schreiber also uses as a workshop for the restoration of historic grand pianos. Numerous individual parts from the instruments adorn the walls of the 600-square-meter hall, which seats 199 spectators. Schreiber’s collection includes around 120 examples from two centuries of piano making, and just under a dozen are available to the artists in a playable state. The venue and workshop are named after Bartolomeo Cristofori, who developed the first fortepiano at the beginning of the 18th century.
Christoph Schreiber no longer works as a doctor. He speaks about this profession in a tone that makes it clear he would be extremely reluctant to put on the white coat again. Now he has time for his passion. But that also means having to make time for his passion. Being a music promoter is a 24/7 job. He’s on the phone an incredible amount, has music and musicians to manage. And, of course, the family is still there, says the father of three.
Christoph Schreiber’s true passion isn’t organizing concerts. His enthusiasm is for historical instruments. He’s gone from being a doctor for people to being a full-time doctor for pianos. In other words: Christoph Schreiber restores old grand pianos, upright pianos, and upright pianos. “I’d like to do more hands-on work,” he says. He sounds a bit regretful. But he doesn’t seem dissatisfied either. Apparently, life has now put him in the right place. Somewhere in a salon with over 100 historical pianos. Where he can afford to turn down commissioned restorations. Because it’s “too much effort to do it properly.”
So he restores historic grand pianos for his own purposes—for concerts, for performances. He calls this part of his daily work “keeping it in concert condition.” He considers which instrument is right for a guest musician’s performance in his salon and repairs it. But he relies on the audience. And that has changed his habits during the lockdown years. In the piano salon, he says, he’s fortunate to attract a diverse audience, “even if the mix is less than before Corona.”
It’s noticeable that this sentence isn’t meant to sound plaintive, just descriptive. That’s why Christoph Schreiber speaks in the next sentence about responsibility and the task facing music promoters. As if to say, you have to bring people back. Convince them again. Re-engage them. His contribution: At the Piano Salon, students pay 15 euros for admission (the regular price is usually 25 euros). A drink is always included. And he encourages them to bring children. In his experience, most of them listen attentively.
The music facilitator has set up 160 chairs in the warehouse. Previously, there were 199. People today don’t want to sit as tightly as they normally would a few years ago. And he organizes concerts on a donation basis less frequently, now generally setting fixed prices. Has the coronavirus pandemic also eroded the willingness to financially reward good performance, even without being asked? It’s a question everyone has to ask themselves to answer. Christoph Schreiber has to raise a good 5,000 euros a month for rent. Covid hasn’t changed the system of space for rent.
In addition to regular benefit concerts with piano solo programs, I am dedicated to musicians’ medicine. Since 2019, I have been a board member of the German Society for Music Physiology and Musicians’ Medicine.
Alexander Schmidt (born January 15, 1977 in Kiel) is a German neurologist and musician. He has been Professor of Musician Medicine at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin since 2014, where he directs the Kurt Singer Institute for Music Physiology and Musician Medicine (KSI), and since 2015, Director of the Berlin Center for Musician Medicine (BCMM) at the Charité. He has been a board member of the German Society for Music Physiology and Musician Medicine (DGfMM) since 2017 and its president since November 2019.
Alexander Schmidt completed his piano studies with Vladimir Krainew at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, graduating with a diploma in music education, and subsequently studied medicine at the Hanover Medical School. He wrote his dissertation on the pathophysiology of musician’s dystonia: neuroplasticity and clinical genetics at the Institute for Music Physiology and Musician’s Medicine in Hanover under Eckart Altenmüller. After receiving his doctorate in 2009, he completed a neurological residency at the Department of Neurology at the University of Lübeck and the Ameos Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Lübeck. At the same time, as a research associate at the Institute of Neurogenetics, he headed the research group on endophenotypes of movement disorders. In 2016, he completed his habilitation in “Experimental Neurology” at the University of Lübeck on the topic of genetic and environmental causes of musician’s dystonia and other dystonia syndromes.
Schmidt conducts research in the field of musicians’ neurophysiology and neurological movement disorders, with a focus on focal dystonia in musicians. He is married to the pianist Saskia M. Schmidt-Enders and has six children.
The son of an architect and a teacher, he began playing the piano at the age of five and considered pursuing a career as a pianist as a young man. But ultimately, he found that too uncertain. Music remains a favorite hobby to this day.
In addition to his music, which he enjoys pursuing with his children, he and his wife are often out in nature and, whenever possible, take outdoor trips in their vintage VW bus. They camp in the wilderness, cook soup and other delicacies on a gas stove, and canoe on lakes and rivers. This is why Sweden is one of his favorite countries, which he has often explored with his family. Sometimes, the Elbe River – or another body of water in Lower Saxony – is enough for a few days. Dr. Tom Steinmetz is connected to the region.
Rüdiger Penthin, a member of the Music Working Group and the board, introduces himself below:
Born in 1959. Born in Cologne. Father of three children. He received his first piano lessons at the age of 6. At 17, he received a scholarship as a junior student at the Cologne University of Music, specializing in piano. At 18, however, he decided to study medicine from 1980 to 1986 at the University of Cologne. He received his doctorate in 1989.
After completing his specialist training (University Children’s Hospital Aachen) and working as a senior physician at the Satteldüne Children’s Pulmonology and Allergology Clinic (Amrum), he established his own pediatrician practice in Schönberg, Holstein, in 1993, specializing in behavioral problems in childhood and adolescence. He completed additional training in psychotherapy from 1992 to 1996. He is the author of several books on children and parents. He is the co-founder of the Probstei Parents’ Workshop, a parent education center.
In 2000, after a long break from performing as a soloist, he made his solo debut with a piano recital at “Schönberg Kulturell” featuring works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, and Brahms. In the following years, he presented a variety of chamber music programs, including the Mozart Piano Concerto in F major with the Kiel Chamber Orchestra in 2004, and song recitals with Matthias Klein since 2006. He has performed the major Schubert and Schumann song cycles jointly. In 2006, he founded the fusion jazz band “Delicious Date,” which was awarded the Bechstein Prize in 2008. Since 2018, he has been a member of the board of the Probstei Cultural Association.
Carl Clauberg (September 28, 1898 in Witzhelden-Wupperhof; August 9, 1957 in Kiel) was a German gynecologist who, as an SS doctor, performed forced sterilizations on hundreds of female concentration camp prisoners. Due to his research into hormone-based contraceptive methods, which he also conducted in the Auschwitz extermination camp using brutal human experiments, Clauberg is considered one of the fathers of the birth control pill.
Political Activity
Clauberg joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) (membership number 2,733,970)[10] and the SA on May 1, 1933.[1][2] In the SA, Clauberg held the rank of Sanitätsobersturmführer.[9] He was also a member of the NS Lecturers’ Association and the NS Doctors’ Association.[2] In 1940, Clauberg became an honorary SS-Gruppenführer of the Reserve.
Dr. Carl Clauberg „The beast“, Gemälde des expressionistischen Künstlers Stefan Krikl aus dessen Serie Doctors of Death, 1985 (dt. Dr. Carl Clauberg „Die Bestie“ aus Ärzte des Todes)
“Clauberg’s brutal actions soon became known throughout the camp – at one point, female SS guards arrived because they wanted to see what he was actually doing with the women whose screams echoed through the camp.”[4] Due to the advance of the Red Army, he continued his experiments on at least 35 other women in the Ravensbrück concentration camp.[4] In total, Clauberg carried out between 550 and 700 forced sterilizations. Among his victims was Ilse Arndt.
Am 8. Juni 1945 wurde Clauberg in Eckernförde (Schleswig-Holstein) festgenommen. Er wurde nach Anerkennung seiner Schuld im Juli 1948 in der Sowjetunion wegen der Ermordung sowjetischer Staatsbürger im KL Auschwitz zu 25 Jahren Haft verurteilt. Am 11. Oktober 1955 wurde er aus der Kriegsgefangenschaft im Rahmen der „Heimkehr der Zehntausend“ als „Nichtamnestierter“ entlassen.[9] Initially, he returned to work as a gynecologist[19] at his old university hospital. He was celebrated there as a “late returnee” and martyr.[20] The Central Council of Jews in Germany filed a criminal complaint for continued grievous bodily harm. On November 21, 1955, an arrest warrant was issued in Kiel, shortly after he had been admitted to the psychiatric clinic in Neustadt in Holstein at the request of his wife for threats of murder and manslaughter. At the beginning of February 1956, the experts determined his sanity, but certified that he had an “abnormal” personality. He was imprisoned in Neumünster prison, and charges were not brought until December 1956 – “no leading gynecologist (such as Martius, Philipp, etc.) could be found who would have wanted to act as an expert witness in court.”[21] Ralph Giordano wrote of the indictment:[22]
“Although I have attended many Nazi trials before West German jury courts, the indictment against Clauberg is among the most unbearable reading I have ever undergone in the study of Nazi crimes.”
Due to the charges against him, Clauberg was denied membership in the German Society of Gynecology in 1956 and banned from practicing his profession in March 1957.[23] Before the trial could begin – the defense had thwarted the opening[24] and the Kiel Regional Court, staffed with many former Nazi lawyers, had dismissed the joint plaintiff, Henry Ormond – Clauberg died of a stroke in custody in August 1957. At only 155 cm tall, he was severely obese and considered an alcoholic. Because there were doubts about natural death, an autopsy was performed by the Kiel Institute for Forensic Medicine. It revealed early stages of brain softening (encephalomalacia).
