Michael Alexander Willens
Conductor Michael Alexander Willens is unusual in that he has spent almost all of his adult career in Europe. He is the longtime music director of the Kölner Akademie in Cologne, Germany.
Willens was born in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on October 6, 1952. His two grandfathers -- Alexander Olshanetsky and Herman Yablokoff -- were both noted figures in the Yiddish theater tradition. Willens was raised in the Jewish faith but drifted away from it while studying in the U.S.; he reconnected with Judaism when he moved to Cologne. He attended the Juilliard School in New York, where he studied conducting with John Nelson and also took courses in double bass and composition. He went on for a master's degree in conducting at Juilliard, also taking a master class with Leonard Bernstein at the Tanglewood music festival and studying choral conducting with Paul Vorwerk. At Juilliard, he was introduced to the historical performance movement by harpsichordist Albert Fuller.
In 1996, he settled in Cologne when he was appointed music director of the Kölner Akademie, a historical performance group, and he has remained in that position. In 2006, he made his recording debut with the group, leading a performance of the little-known St. Matthew Passion of Johann Valentin Meder on the Raumklang label. In addition to his work in Cologne, Willens has traveled the world as a conductor, leading orchestras around the Americas, Europe, and Asia as far afield as Iceland, Brazil, and Azerbaijan. He has often championed the music of rising American composers. Willens has led the Kölner Akademie in numerous recordings, including a complete cycle of the Mozart piano concertos with fortepianist Ronald Brautigam on the BIS label; the cycle began in 2009. He has also conducted the works of lesser-known Baroque and Classical composers such as Bernhard Crusell and Johann Kalliwoda. Many of Willens' recordings with the Akademie have been on the CPO and Ars Produktion labels, in addition to BIS. In 2019 alone, he released four albums, including a cycle of Beethoven's piano concertos on BIS with Brautigam. Willens remained busy during the COVID-19 pandemic, releasing several albums annually in 2020, 2021, and 2022, including one of Telemann's Johannis-Oratorium, TVWV 1:602/1216 on CPO in 2022. By that time, his recording catalog comprised well over 60 albums.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Wilms: The Piano Concertos, Vol. 1
Ronald Brautigam, Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on 3 Jun 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
C.P.E. Bach: Magnificat, Auf, schicke dich recht feierlich & Spiega Hammonia fortunata
Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on 8 Nov 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Complete Piano Concertos
Ronald Brautigam, Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on 6 Nov 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Overtures
Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on 19 Jan 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rolle: St. Luke Passion
Michael Alexander Willens, Die Kölner Akademie
Classical - Released by CPO on 13 Apr 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Telemann : Michaelis Oratorium
Sacred Oratorios - Released by CPO on 15 Mar 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Abel: Symphonies, Opp. 1 & 4
Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on 23 Mar 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Offenbach: Pomme d'api & Trafalgar (Sur un volcan)
Die Kölner Akademie, Magali Leger, Michael Alexander Willens, Florian Laconi, Marc Barrard
Opera - Released by CPO on 7 Aug 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mandolinenkonzerte
Aino Hildebrant, Julie Maas, Anna Torge, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Concertos - Released by Ars Produktion on 1 Oct 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kalliwoda: Violin Concertinos & Overtures
Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Ariadne Daskalakis, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on 3 Jul 2015
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Kalliwoda: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 4 & Overture No. 17
Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on 23 Aug 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach 333: 4-Part Chorales (Vol. 2)
Kolner Akademie Choir, Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eberl: Piano Concertos (Paolo Giacometti - Riko Fukuda)
Paolo Giacometti, Riko Fukuda, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on 1 Jan 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eberl: Concerto for 2 Pianos & Sonatas for Piano 4 Hands
Paolo Giacometti, Riko Fukuda, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on 4 May 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stamitz: Symphonies
Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on 13 Aug 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Heinichen: 2 Passion Oratorios
Elvira Bill, Andreas Wolf, Elena Harsányi, Mirko Ludwig, Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on 6 May 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Telemann: Easter Cantatas
Peter Kooij, Johanna Winkel, Die Kölner Akademie, Margot Oitzinger, Michael Alexander Willens, Georg Poplutz
Classical - Released by CPO on 20 Aug 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concertos
Ronald Brautigam, Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Nov 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Concertos pour violoncelle (Intégrale)
Martin Rummel, Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CapriccioNR on 24 Jun 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Neukomm: Fantasies & Sinfonie Heroïque
Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on 1 Oct 2012
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Homilius: Christmas & Advent Cantatas
Die Kölner Akademie, Georg Poplutz, Hanna Herfurtner, Franziska Gottwald, Michael Alexander Willens, Mauro Borgioni
Classical - Released by CPO on 7 Feb 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo