Helmut Brauss

Brauss, Helmut

Helmut (Friedrich Ludwig) Brauss. Pianist, teacher, b Milan, of German parents, 19 Oct 1930. This prominent European pianist (pupil of Elly Ney, Hans Ehlers, and Edwin Fischer) moved to Canada in 1966 to teach at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina campus. Brauss was a member 1967-9 of the Regina Conservatory Trio, a soloist with CBC orchestras in Winnipeg and Vancouver and with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and toured regularly in Europe. He was an examiner 1966-7 for the Western Board of Music and an adjudicator 1966-70 for the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association, and he also initiated and administrated Beethoven '70, a province-wide festival in Saskatchewan. From 1969 to 1995 he taught at the University of Alberta, where he was named a Killam professor for 1993-4. Later, he became an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria.

In addition to his university teaching, Brauss has maintained an active concert schedule, including radio broadcasts and guest appearances with orchestras throughout North America, in Europe, and in Japan, Korea, and China. Brauss premiered Malcolm Forsyth's Piano Concerto in 1979 (recorded for CBC broadcast) and Forsyth's Three Toccati for Solo Piano in 1987. Brauss was a visiting professor 1980-2 and 1996-9 at the Musashino Academia Musicae in Tokyo, where he met and married mezzo-soprano Kuniko Furuhata. His pupils have included Scott Edward Godin, Thelma Johannes O'Neill and Catherine Vickers-Steiert. Brauss's book, Max Reger's Music for Solo Piano, won a 1995 Alberta Book Award. He has continued to offer masterclasses on various continents and to teach, eg at the Aria International Summer Academy, as well as performing solo and chamber music in Victoria and elsewhere.

Writings
Max Reger's Music for Solo Piano: An Introduction (Edmonton 1994)

"Max Reger," series of articles, Musica Nova, Ongaku no Tomo (Japanese) (1994-5)

Der Singende Klavierton Oder Das "Wie" des Pedals (2003)