Prof. Klaus Thunemann has passed away
19 April 1937 in Magdeburg – 29 August 2025
It is with deep gratitude that we remember our former colleague, bassoonist Prof. Klaus Thunemann, who passed away on 29 August 2025 at the age of 88. We had the honour of experiencing him as a uniquely inspiring teacher and musician at our school, who had a lasting influence on generations of bassoonists. He was world-famous as a soloist and chamber musician and was in demand on international stages and at music festivals. He was committed to the world of music far beyond his instrumental skills and was honoured with the Federal Cross of Merit in 2006.
Klaus Thunemann received his first musical training in his hometown of Magdeburg at the Georg Philipp Telemann College of Music, initially majoring in piano, but later switching to bassoon. In 1957, before the Berlin Wall was built, he left the former GDR to study bassoon with Prof. Willy Fugmann at the Academy of Music in West Berlin. In 1962, he became principal bassoonist and the youngest member of the then NDR Symphony Orchestra. He was a prize winner at the ARD Competition in Munich in 1965. As a soloist and orchestral musician, he has worked with all the major conductors of his time and recorded the entire solo repertoire for his instrument. He has collaborated closely with András Schiff, Heinz Holliger and Jean-Pierre Rampal, among others.
From 1978 onwards, Klaus Thunemann taught as professor of bassoon at the University of Music and Drama in Hanover and led music courses in Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Japan, Argentina, the USA and at the Royal Academy in London. In 1996, he took up a professorship at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin and continued to teach there even after his retirement in 2005. In 2008, he took up a professorship at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid and at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin.
Numerous alumni from his bassoon class have gone on to hold leading positions in renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam.
His memory will live on in our hearts. We will always honour his enormous artistic and pedagogical achievements.
On behalf of the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music Berlin
Prof. Andrea Tober, President