Bernhard Kratzer 

Biographie in GERMAN 

  


Until his retirement in October 2025, Bernhard Kratzer served as trumpeter in the Stuttgart State Orchestra; from 1993 to 2007, he was also responsible for the trumpet class as a lecturer at the Saarland University of Music. He completed his own studies under Prof. H.D. Bolz in Trossingen and Prof. Max Sommerhalder in Zurich. As a student, he was a member of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich , and was a prize winner in the competition for music conservatories in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Early in his studies, he founded a trumpet and organ duo with Monika Nuber; the ensemble soon established itself as one of the most distinguished of its kind in Germany and received numerous invitations to perform both at home and abroad. Among other engegements, the two soloists performed together at Riga Cathedral on what was formerly the largest organ in the world. 

Tragically, this successful collaboration came to an abrupt end following Monika Nuber's accidental death in 1996. Concert tours with renowned ensembles - such as German Brass, the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, and the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart - took him to Israel, the USA and the CIS.

He ist creating arrangements of wellknown and remote Baroque music with great engagement and has a wide ranging repertoire from the 17th century up to contemporary music at his disposal. Beside a great number of radio- and televisiontransmissions his high standard as an artist is documented with outstanding CD-recordings. In 1980 he founded, together with Monika Nuber (1961 - 1996), a trumpet-organ-duo that could establish itself as one of the most outstanding in Germany after a short time and has been invited to numerous  performances in Germany and abroad.

 

 

Tragically this pleasing human and artistic co-operation has been ended with the accidental death of Monika Nuber. Since 1997 Bernhard Kratzer has been working regulary with the organist of the Dome at Speyer Markus Eichenlaub, with the freelance organist from Stuttgart Paul Theis and with Martin Sander who is professor at university for sacred music at Heidelberg.
     

 

Bernhard Kratzer with a duo partner Paul Theis

 

 Markus Eichenlaub
 & Bernhard Kratzer