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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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 -
E.T.A. Hoffmann: Symphony & Overtures / Witt: Sinfonia in A Major
Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on 3 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Neapolitan Christmas
Roberta Mameli, Ursula Eittinger, Andreas Post, Stephan MacLeod, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on 1 Nov 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Quantz: 4 Concertos for Flute & Strings
Eric Lamb, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by Profil on 4 May 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romberg: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 5
Davit Melkonyan, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on 4 Mar 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ries, F.: Concerto for 2 Horns, Woo 19 / Violin Concerto No. 1 / Overtures To Die Rauberbraut and The Sorceress
Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Teunis van der Zwart, Anton Steck, Michael Alexander Willens, Erwin Wieringa
Classical - Released by CPO on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Markus Passion, BWV 247
Dominique Horwitz, Die Kölner Akademie, amarcord, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by Carus on 13 Jul 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mattheson: Christmas Oratorio & Magnificat
Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens, Unknown Artist
Classical - Released by CPO on 20 Sep 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Haffner Serenade & Ein musikalischer Spaß
Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on 7 Feb 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wilms: The Piano Concertos, Vol. 2
Ronald Brautigam, Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on 4 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mattheson: Das groste Kind
Classical - Released by CPO on 20 May 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Weber: Complete Works for Piano & Orchestra
Ronald Brautigam, Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on 19 Mar 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie & Concertos solo (Forgotten Treasures - Volume 4) (Johann Wilhelm Wilms)
Classical - Released by Ars Produktion on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Masonic Works – Cantatas & Funeral Music
John Heuzenroeder, Chor der Kölner Akademie, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on 23 Feb 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 18 & 22
Ronald Brautigam, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Feb 2014
Gramophone Editor's Choice16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 27
Ronald Brautigam, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Sep 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Trésors oubliés (Volume 10)
Masumi Nagasawa, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Symphonic Music - Released by Ars Produktion on 18 Apr 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Forgotten Treasures - Volume 8 (Sigismund Neukomm)
Classical - Released by Ars Produktion on 1 Jan 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hertel: Der sterbende Heiland
Classical - Released by CPO on 6 May 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Posthorn Serenade & Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on 3 Mar 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-4 "Pasticcio Concertos"
Ronald Brautigam, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on 2 Sep 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo