Bernhard Gärtner 

Bernhard Gärtner, born in Karlsruhe, initially studied music education and musicology there. He then pursued advanced studies in conducting in Freiburg under Hans Michael Beuerle and Francis Travis. During this time, he intensified his vocal studies, initially with Aldo Baldin in Karlsruhe, then with Denis Hall in Bern, and finally with Ion Buzea in Zurich. From the age of 17, Bernhard Gärtner conducted various choirs, including a Catholic church choir, two men's choirs, and a youth choir. During his conducting studies, he led the Madrigal Choir Freiburg, with which he performed various choral works as well as a cappella literature. However, in 1987, Gärtner abandoned this activity in favor of a career as a singer.
In 1989, the tenor made his opera debut under Horst Stein at the Grand Opera in Geneva. Guest contracts took him to, among others, the Opera Comique in Paris, the opera houses of Frankfurt, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Darmstadt, Munich, Osnabrück, New Haven (USA), New York (Lincoln Center), Milan (La Scala), and London (Sadler's Wells). Bernhard Gärtner performed in many of Europe's major music centers, Israel, South America, and the USA. He was a guest at numerous international festivals and performed at the Salzburg Festival, Vienna Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, Ravenna, Rome, Turin, Madrid, Porto, Paris, Krakow, Bergen, Tel Aviv, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Zurich, Samara, and Los Angeles. He collaborated with composers such as Nono, Lutoslawski, Schnebel, Stockhausen, Berio, Penderecki, and Rihm, and sang under renowned conductors such as Ernest Bour (Naples), Claudio Abbado, Michael Gielen, Leopold Hager, Zoltan Pesko (Warsaw), Hans Zender, and Andrew Parrott (Lucerne).
Bernhard Gärtner, still active as a singer, took over the Freiburg Oratorio Choir in 2008, with which he has been successful ever since. For example, in 2012, the choir performed the closing concert of the prestigious festival in Masevaux, at the invitation of Parisian organist Daniel Roth on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The program included the symphonic organ mass by Louis Vierne, with Daniel Roth himself at the main organ. Since 2015, Gärtner has been the Artistic Director of the Anton Webern Choir Freiburg, succeeding Hans Michael Beuerle.
Encounters with Hans Michael Beuerle provided Gärtner with significant impulses to approach the music of a composer. Over the years, a relationship evolved from student to friend. Gärtner sang many concerts initially in the choir and later as a soloist under Beuerle's direction. This collaboration was always characterized by great respect for each other, even if opinions on the interpretative approach occasionally differed.