DAVID HOENIGSBERG (1959-2004) was born in Johannesburg, South Africa of German-Jewish and Afrikaner parents. His musical interests and activities started at the tender age of four with piano lessons from his mother. He studied with the most well-known South African piano teachers (Peggy Haddon, Annette Kearney, and Pauline Nossel). His first compositions to achieve success were the Orchestral Suite (1974) and Frolics of the African Night for Flute Solo (1974), the latter of which was recorded by flutist John Hinch and broadcast on the SABC.
At 14 he was selected along with two other students, to attend a Special Harmony and Counterpoint Class at the University of Natal, Durban Music Department. After matriculating, he attended the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg School of Music, graduating with a B.Mus. Degree in Composition. At the School of Music Opera School (Head of Voice Joyce Barker), he worked as a repetiteur and eventually Chorus Master on various operas and musicals. He conducted various ensembles from Synagogue Choirs, Church Orchestras through to orchestras on the Rand. He became one of the panel of Music Critics for the Johannesburg newspaper The Star. He emigrated to Switzerland in 1993, working as a freelance composer, conductor, and pianist. Awarded the SAMRO Scholarship for Overseas Study, he attended the Hochschule for Musik and Darstellende Kunst in Vienna as a pupil of Roman Haubenstock-Ramati, Hoenigsberg’s catalogue of works includes 4 Symphonies, 2 Violin Concertos, a Piano Concerto, a Viola Concerto, a Soliloquy for Violoncello and String Orchestra, a Piccolo Concerto, 5 String Quartets, a Missa Brevis, two cantatas, numerous songs and chamber music.
Important commissions include Tamas and the Rainbow Dragon, commissioned by Howard Griffiths and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and Metco Musik, commissioned by the Basle Symphony Orchestra. His music had performances in many countries and his catalogue of 134 works can be viewed on www.sibeliusmusic.com
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