The pianist and organist Max Hanft has a long association with the Bavarian Radio Chorus. As co-répétiteur, he has accompanied the choir in its daily rehearsals since 1997.
Max Hanft’s main musical interests are in piano accompaniment and organ music. In addition to his work with the Bavarian Radio Chorus he has been a church musician in the parish of St Nikolaus (St Nicholas) in Neuried since 1999. He is especially interested in organ repertory from the time before Bach.
Since 2001 he has been regularly engaged to perform in concerts with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Radio Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Chorus, as well as with other renowned ensembles. He has participated in concerts and CD productions with Howard Arman, Peter Dijkstra, Michael Gläser, Mariss Jansons, Ton Koopman, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Simon Rattle, Ivan Repušić, Ulf Schirmer and Marcello Viotti.
Highlights of the 2023/24 season included performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and of Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem (in the two-piano version, alongside Gerold Huber) at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie.
As a harpsichordist, Max Hanft has performed with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Munich Hofkapelle and Concerto Köln. Concert tours have taken him to New York, Kyoto and Singapore. He has performed as an organ soloist at the Rheingau Music Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the International Organ Week in Nuremberg, in the Cathedral of Brixen and in Dresden’s Frauenkirche. In 2012 he participated in a recording of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem conducted by Peter Dijkstra (Sony Classical), which received the ECHO Klassik award.
Max Hanft is a native of Munich, studied church music at the University of Music and Performing Arts there, and undertook further training in masterclasses with Gundula Janowitz (song accompaniment), Gerhard Weinberger (organ, historical performance practice) and Lars-Ulrik Mortensen (harpsichord).
