Fritz Kauffmann

Fritz Kauffmann (Berlin, 17 June 1855 – Magdeburg, 29 September 1934) was a German composer and conductor. Biography Kauffmann was born in Berlin as the son of the pharmaceutical industrialist Julius Kauffmann, and initially studied there with Hermann Mohr. After completing an apprenticeship as a pharmacist in Hamburg and studying chemistry at the University of Leipzig, he enrolled in the Akademische Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where he was a pupil of Friedrich Kiel (composition) and Ernst Rudorff (piano). When he went to Vienna as a Mendelssohn scholarship holder in 1881, Johannes Brahms took an interest in him. After returning to Berlin, Kauffmann initially worked as a private music teacher. In 1889 he moved to Magdeburg to conduct the Gesellschaftskonzerte (rechristened “City Symphony Concerts” in 1897). In 1897 he also took on the management of the Rebling Church Choir, which carried out the large oratorio concerts in the city. In addition, Kauffmann worked privately as a piano and theory teacher, and from 1923 also at the seminar of the composers’ union. Kauffmann was appointed Royal Music Director in 1893 and professor in 1909. A board member of the German Music Education