Award for Fritz Näf
On April 19, the choirmaster, singer and music teacher Fritz Näf was honored in Winterthur for his cultural life's work.
As the Government Council of the Canton of Zurich stated in the minutes of its meeting on September 19, 2012, the Gold Medal of Honor "is traditionally awarded to a Zurich personality in recognition of their cultural life's work.
Fritz Näf, born in Weiach in 1943, obtained his primary school teacher's certificate and then studied singing at the music academies in Zurich, Basel and Freiburg im Breisgau, while also training as a teacher for early musical education and elementary school. At the end of the 1970s, he studied choral and orchestral conducting with Erich Schmid and Paul Schaller.
He taught solo singing (including at the Schola Cantorum Basilensis) and basic music courses and directed vocal ensembles and the choir at the conservatory in Winterthur. From 1986 to 2000, he was head of the music school and conservatory in Winterthur. When the University of Music and Theater Zurich (HMZ) was founded, he became its first rector. As early as 1961, he appeared as a singer in various productions in Switzerland, and from 1969 as a concert and opera singer throughout Europe.
In 1978, he founded the professional vocal ensemble at the Schola Cantorum Basilensis Basel Madrigalistswith which he premiered numerous works. In 1997, the Swiss Chamber Choir was founded in collaboration with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. From 2000, Fritz Näf was the full-time artistic director of these two ensembles until the dissolution of the Swiss Chamber Choir in summer 2011 and the handover of his position at the Basler Madrigalisten to Raphael Immoos on January 1, 2013."
