Portrait of the Conductor

Reiner Stutz – artistic director of the SZO

At the age of 19, Reiner Stutz (b.1958 in Saarland) won first prize in the national Jugend Musiziert (youth music) competition. He studied guitar in Saarbrücken with Michael Koch and in Cologne with Prof. Werner Kämmerling and Hubert Käppel as well as composition with Prof. Dr. Manfred Reiter, Cologne. He gave lectures on guitar and guitar pedagogy at Cologne University and at the School for Educational Science in Coblence.

Since 1981 Stutz has developed his concert activities as a guitar soloist, in various duos (such as Duo Concertante with Doris Harst-Stutz [mandolin] and Albéniz Guitar Duo with Burkhard Wolk), and with several orchestras. His first professional performances as well as radio recordings of his compositions commenced in 1984. Concert tours have led him through numerous European countries and overseas. He has released two solo CD’s and two duo CD’s.

He remains productive as a composer as well, creating countless solo compositions for mandolin and guitar, assorted chamber music pieces, works for orchestra, plus adaptions and arrangements of baroque and classical music for plucked strings orchestra, all of which are published by relevant German music companies.

Since January 1988 Reiner Stutz has been Music Director of the Saarland Mandolin Orchestra (SZO), which has built a good reputation under his direction. With the orchestra he has been on numerous tours through European countries, to America (1998, 2002, 2012), and to Japan (2008). During the 25 years of his activity as conductor of the SZO, the orchestra has produced five CDs, recorded approximately 150 pieces with Saarland Radio and given more than 100 concerts.