Alois Ickstadt

Alois Ickstadt (born 22 September 1930) is a German pianist, choral conductor, university professor and composer.

He was professor at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt.

Beginning in the early 1960s, Ickstadt created a new concept for working with choirs, in collaboration with Hessischer Rundfunk (HR), the Hesse state radio and television broadcaster.

In 1961, he founded the children's choir of the HR, Kinderchor Frankfurt; an adult choir, the Figuralchor Frankfurt, was formed in 1966.

The concept was to begin educating choral singers when they were children and continue with them into adulthood, not only providing systematic vocal training but also expanding their general musical knowledge.

Ickstadt conducted the Figuralchor in concerts, radio productions and recordings.

He promoted choral singing from children's choir to adult groups for the state broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk, namely the Figuralchor Frankfurt which he founded in 1966 and conducted until 2011.

Ickstadt studied music pedagogy at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt.

He also studied piano with Erich Flinsch, composition with Kurt Hessenberg and conducting with Walther Davisson and Karl Maria Zwißler.

Interested in cultural relevance, he also studied German, musicology, philosophy and history at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main.

He took classes with Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, whose philosophy shaped his life.

During his studies, he worked as a pianist for radio stations, with a focus on contemporary music, collaborating with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Dean Dixon, Sixten Ehrling and Georg Solti.

He also accompanied singers in recitals.

The first Figuralchor performances, beginning in 1966, were broadcasts; the ensemble sang its first concert for a live audience in 1970, performing motets at St. Leonhard church.

Ickstadt was a professor at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt from 1968 until his retirement in 1995.

Ickstadt conducted the choir until 2011.