Guitarist
Prof. Dr. Thomas Offermann began playing the guitar at the age of 7. As a soloist, with orchestras, as a chamber musician in a wide variety of ensembles and with the internationally renowned DUO SONARE, he began touring more than 40 countries worldwide in 1984.
He has performed at major guitar festivals and given master classes, served on juries and lectured at numerous international music academies. He has also been involved in numerous radio and television productions at home and abroad and has recorded eight CDs with DUO SONARE.
Since 1985, together with the DUO SONARE, he opened new ground for the classical guitar repertoire with the adaption of music by such figures as Chick Corea, Frank Zappa and Mike Oldfield. Chick Corea himself praised these interpretations for “so much feeling and beauty”.
After falling ill in 1996, he ended his concert career in 2002. Since then, he has concentrated on his work as a teacher, author, conductor and international lecturer.
Since 2010, Prof. Thomas Offermann has been a ‘D’Addario Artist’ and ‘European Classical Guitar Representative’ for D’Addario.
Education
_ Doctorate (Dr. phil.) 2014 – Dissertation: ‘Simply Playing Guitar – Integrative Movement Theory for Guitar’
_ Solistendiplom at the Basel Academy of Music in the class of Oscar Ghiglia
_ Studied at the Cologne University of Music, Aachen, under Tadashi Sasaki and Hubert Käppel (graduated ‘with distinction’)
Other teachers: AMADEUS String Quartet, Manuel Barrueco, Leo Brouwer, David Russell, Karl Scheit, John Williams.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Offermann received several DAAD scholarships, was a scholarship holder of the ‘Richard Dörken Foundation’ and a prize winner and finalist in international competitions such as the International Scandinavian Guitar Competition, the Certamen International ‘Andrès Segovia’ and the Certamen International ‘Francisco Tárrega’.
Press Release
Prof. Dr. Thomas Offermann
Prof. Dr. Thomas Offermann counts today as one of the internationally most regarded guitar pedagogues in Europe and further afield. As soloist, with orchestra and as member of the internationally acclaimed DUO SONARE, one of the outstanding guitar duos of recent times, he has toured in over forty counties worldwide and participated at the most prestigious Guitar Festivals. Numerous Radio and Television broadcasts, together with eight internationally appraised CD recordings provide a worthy documentation to the quality of his work.
Through his work with DUO SONARE, Thomas Offermann opened new ground for the classical guitar repertoire with the adaption of music by such figures as Chick Corea, Frank Zappa and Mike Oldfield. Chick Corea himself praised these interpretations for “so much feeling and beauty”.
As Professor he currently teaches an International Master class at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock; he is Artistic Director of the International Guitar Academy Berlin. His latest publication (“Modern Guitar Technique – Integrative Movement Theory for Guitarists”) has been released by Schott/Mainz and in 2019
in English by UT Orpheus in Italy. As a lecturer he has appeared at prestigious institutions, guitar festivals and universities across the world, winning acclaim from both participants and peers alike.
In recent years T.O. has also been active as a conductor of guitar orchestras; composers such as Sérgio Assad, René Eespere, Marco de Biasi, Carlo Domeniconi, Marek Pasieczny and Benjamin Verdery wrote works for Guitar Ensemble for him.
During the period of 2010-2022, Thomas Offermann was D’Addario’s European Classical Guitar Representative.