Sebastian Gottschick was born in Düsseldorf to a family of church musicians. He studied violin, composition and conducting in Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg and at the Juilliard School in New York. The broad spectrum of his interests and experience – in contemporary and early music, as conductor, composer and arranger, violinist, violist and teacher at the HfMT Köln – is reflected in his compositions.
Gottschick was Artistic Director of the Ensemble Oriol Berlin from 1994 through 2000, and Musical Director of the New Opera Berlin from 1994 through 2003. From 1995 through 2011 he was violist of the Manon Quartet Berlin.
As conductor he has worked with ensembles including Klangforum Wien, MusikFabrik Köln, Ensemble Modern, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Radio Orchestras in Frankfurt, Warsaw, Berlin, Stuttgart und Munich. He appeared at theaters in Bern, Saarbrücken, Lisbon, Venice, Berlin and Basel. He enjoys a longstanding collaboration with the ensemble für neue musik zurich. Numerous recordings with that ensemble include his own chamber music (Notturni), as well as two CDs with his adaptation of Ives’ song. His arrangements for the Alliage-Quintet have been released by Sony Classics, including Stravinsky’s „Firebird“ with Sabine Meyer. The CD Dancing Paris with works by Enescu, Milhaud and Copland, was awarded an Echo Prize in 2010. More recently, his completion of the Kurpinski Clarinet Concerto was recorded in Poland.
