Hannover Harmony s
artistic director
Michael Godhoff
- Born 10th March 1957 in Dinslaken in Lower Rhine, the son
of a musically oriented family.
- At the age of 8 Michael took his first violin lesson with
his great uncle, Concertmaster Emil Wellershaus, who soon
recognised the musical and artistic talents of his pupil.
- At the age of 11 Michael Godhoff studied at the Duisburg
Conservatory, where he took violin lessons with Professor
Hans-Christian Siegert.
- At 14 years of age he became a student of the Folkwang
Superior School of Music in Essen-Werden, under the
instruction of the Concertmaster of the Düsseldorf
Symphony Orchestra, Professor Adolphe Mondeau.
- After three years in Folkwang, Michael Godhoff decided to
prepare himself to meet the requirements for regular
music studies. Three years later, he had completed his
Abitur.
- He passed the entrance exam for the Duisburg Superior
School of Music and began violin lessons with the first
Concertmaster of the Duisburg Symphony Orchestra,
Carl-Heinz Röhrig.
- Still in the early stages of his studies, Michael Godhoff
started teaching in the Superior School for Art and Music
in Wesel in the Lower Rhine.
- Three months later he gained a position at the Deutschen
Oper am Rhein in Duisburg, where he gained his first
professional experience as an orchestra musician.
- At the age of 22 he completed the necessary entrance exam
for the Superior School of Music, Dance and Theatre in
Hanover, to further improve his musical qualities under
the supervision of the Concertmaster of the Hanover State
Opera, Oswald Gatterman, who was a member of the
world-famous Heutling Quartett for over thirty years.
- Only one and a half year later, Michael Godhoff became a
regular member of the Lower Saxony State Orchestra as the
result of official auditions.