Volker Hartung is an interesting personality in the music scene today.

His unmistakable conducting style and skill in handling orchestras as well as soloists make him very popular wherever he works.

His several decades of experience as an independent, completely unsubsidized head of ensembles have taught him how to form orchestras and make them financially and artistically viable in the face of various obstacles.

His lectures on music history and performance technique are internationally renowned. Volker Hartung assumed the position of chief conductor of the Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra in 1986. He was trained in the tradition of German Symphony Orchestras and Opera. Under the influence of conductors as Evgeny Mravinsky, and Sergiu Celibidache, Hartung developed a special understanding of the French, German and Slavic musical traditions.