Background
Winbeck was born in a small village named Piflas, now part of Ergolding, close to Landshut in Lower Bavaria into a family of farmers.
Winbeck was born in a small village named Piflas, now part of Ergolding, close to Landshut in Lower Bavaria into a family of farmers.
From 1967 he studied conducting at the Musikhochschule München with January Koetsier, composition with Harald Genzmer and Günter Bialas.
He is known for five large scale symphonies. He started his musical studies in 1964 at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich, piano with Magda Rusy and conducting with Fritz Rieger. From 1974 to 1978 he worked as composer and conductor at the Theater Ingolstadt, also for the festival Luisenburg-Festspiele.
In 1980 he taught at the Musikhochschule München.
In 1988 he was appointed professor for composition at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg. Among his students is composer and pianist Rudi Spring.
Winbeck was "Composer in Residence" at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Cabrillo, California. He created five wide-spaced and organized symphonies.
His First Symphony was premiered in 1984 at the Donaueschinger Tage für Neue Musik and recorded by WERGO, combined with Winbeck"s second string quartet, with Dennis Russell Davies conducting the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken.
His Fifth Symphony "Jetzt und in der Stunde des Todes" (Now and in the hour of death) reflects sketches of Anton Bruckner"s unfinished 9th Symphony. The work in three movements of about 55 minutes was played by the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies on 1 March 2010 at the Stift Saint Florian. The same year he started a collaboration with the Landestheater Linz, which resulted in the ballet "Lebensstürme" (Storms of life).
The composer commented on his way of composing: "Ich kann nichts anderes sagen, als daß ich buchstäblich nur das zu Papier bringe, das, würde ich es nicht tun, mich zersprengte." (All I can say is that I literally only put down on paper that which, were I not to do so, would cause me to explode)
Winbeck"s works are published by Bärenreiter.
1974 First prize in the First composition competition of the Summer Music Days in Hitzacker 1980 Second prize in the Fourth composition competition of the Summer Music Days in Hitzacker 1981 Grant award of the city of Munich 1981/82 scholarship by State of Bavaria for studies of half a year at the Cité Internationale des Arts Paris (German) 1985 Music prize of the Berliner Kunstpreis 2004 "Gerda-und-Günter-Bialas-Award" of the GEMA Foundation In 1994 Heinz and Gerhilde Winbeck won a prize for the historical renovation by the Hypo-Foundation.