THE DIRECTOR

Born in Wolfsburg, Bertrand Gröger grew up in Bremen and studied classical music in Freiburg and Paris and Jazz in Hamburg. In his band "Tune Up" and the classical ensemble "Trio Grande", Gröger gave concerts in Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, and South Africa, including radio and TV appearances.

In 1990, Gröger founded the Jazzchor Freiburg, with which he has been on tour all over Europe, in Japan and Korea. The Jazzchor has also achieved first place in every single competition it has taken part in (Italy 1997, Germany 1998, Korea 2002). Gröger received the ZMF prize from the Freiburg music festival for his direction of the Jazzchor in 1997.

Gröger is a self-taught composer and arranger. He won a prize in the international composition in Berlin in 1989. He arranges and composes a large part of the Jazzchor‘s repertoire, publishes his works with Ricordi, and has been contracted to write for the Swingle Singers, the Bamberg Symphonic Orchestra, the WDR Radio Orchestra, and the Northwest German Orchestra.

He guest-directed the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra for his composition "der und die (das)" for orchestra, jazz choir and band and directed the World Children's Choir - with 2000 members from 115 nations - at the UN's "Festival Mondial des Enfants". Gröger conducted Bobby McFerrin‘s compositions at a joint project within the "STIMMEM 2004"-Festival.

Gröger is a lecturer at the Pop Academy in Mannheim and directs the academy's choir. He taught singing at the Jazz and Rock School in Freiburg for many years and was a guest lecturer at the Würzburg Conservatory, leading courses on the direction of Jazz/Rock/Pop choirs. He has held many workshops for choir directors and choir singers, among others at the conservatories in Saarbrücken, Freiburg and Frankfurt a.M., the State Academy in Ochsenhausen, as well as at the German Federation of Young Choirs and Instrumental Groups (AMJ) and the European Jazz Academy.
Gröger is also regularly invited to be a jury member at German and international choir competitions.