Biography of Günter Jena

Günter Jena (born 2 January 1933 in Leipzig; died 7 May 2026) was a German choral conductor, organist, musicologist and director of church music. He first shaped Bach performance at St. Johannis in Würzburg and then, for more than two decades, the music of Hamburg's main church St. Michaelis. His name is especially connected with Johann Sebastian Bach, the Würzburg Bach Days, the Bach festival at the Michel and his collaboration with John Neumeier.

Leipzig, Munich and Bach

Jena was born in Leipzig and attended the Thomasschule there, a school whose history is closely linked with Bach. He then studied musicology as well as psychology and philosophy in Berlin. At the Munich University of Music he studied conducting and organ and became an assistant to Karl Richter. His musical training therefore early combined historical knowledge, practical church music and Bach's great sacred works.

Würzburg

In 1961 Jena became cantor and director of church music at the Protestant St. Johannis church in Würzburg. There he built up choral and concert work and made the church an important place for Bach performances. In 1966 he initiated a Johann Sebastian Bach society; in 1969 the Würzburg Bach Days grew from that work. What began in a post-war city with limited means became a lasting series for oratorios, cantatas, organ music and sacred concert practice.

Hamburg's Michel

In 1974 Jena moved to the main church St. Michaelis in Hamburg. There he continued the tradition of major Passion and oratorio performances and placed a special emphasis on Bach. St. Michaelis itself describes his concerts as noticed far beyond Hamburg, especially the St Matthew Passion with ballet staged by John Neumeier for the Hamburg State Opera and the series Musik und Dichtung with Heinz Rühmann. Jena made the Michel a place where liturgy, concert and artistic crossings came closely together.

John Neumeier and the St Matthew Passion

The collaboration with John Neumeier became a distinctive chapter. As director of church music at the Michel, Jena invited the choreographer to develop a ballet performance with organ music; this led to works around Bach's St Matthew Passion. Jena musically led a form in which sacred music, movement and space responded to one another. The fact that the production was revived over decades shows how lasting that impulse was.

Author and mediator

Alongside his work as conductor, organist and choral director, Jena wrote about Bach's works. His books and lectures on the St Matthew Passion, the Christmas Oratorio and The Art of Fugue were aimed not only at specialists, but also at listeners who wanted to understand the theological and musical substance of these works. In 1987 he received the Johannes Brahms Medal of the City of Hamburg. His active time at the Michel ended in 1997, but his Bach work remained present there.

Farewell

Günter Jena died on 7 May 2026 at the age of 93. St. Michaelis announced an organ concert in his memory for 13 June 2026: Michel organist Jörg Endebrock played Bach's Clavier-Übung Teil III. This farewell suited Jena's path because it did not stop at biographical tribute, but was translated into music.