SJ Hanke

Composer

Contact: Ute Rost, +43 676 670 2423
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»SJ Hanke knows how to fuse different compositional styles and concepts within his work in a fresh way. This approach allows him a musical language that is sensual in sound and often dramatic. By condensing and superimposing tonal and rhythmic structures, he also gives room to humor and irony in his works.«

Dr. Christian Kuhnt, Intendant of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival

Biography

Stefan Johannes Hanke, born in 1984 in Regensburg, studied composition with Manfred Trojahn and Heinz Winbeck. He was a fellow of the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and of the German Academy Rome Villa Massimo.

Alongside numerous orchestral and chamber works, music theatre forms a central focus of his output. His two chamber operas and two children’s operas are performed regularly at German-speaking opera houses, including the Semperoper Dresden, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Theater Basel and Oper Köln. In 2018/19, the Staatsoper Hannover commissioned his ballet grotesque & arabesque, based on motifs by Edgar Allan Poe (choreography by Jörg Mannes).

Among Hanke’s orchestral works is ropes and knots, premiered in 2019 by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Kiel under Benjamin Reiners.
His commissioners and collaborators include the German Music Council, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Philharmonie Köln, Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano, the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO), the Munich Radio Orchestra, Elsa Dreisig and Ensemble Modern. In 2020 SJ Hanke was awarded the Hindemith Prize of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. His children’s opera Der Teufel mit den drei goldenen Haaren received ten performances at the Salzburg Festival in 2022.

In 2023, his saxophone concerto CIRCLE AND TANGENT was premiered at the Kölner Philharmonie by Lutz Koppetsch and the Duisburger Philharmoniker under Mariano Chiacchiarini.

In 2024, the Aalto Musiktheater Essen presented his new opera project Unerwartete Wendungen, and in Graz his organ cycle Traumnovelle (Dream Story) after Arthur Schnitzler received its first performance.

In February 2025, his organ concerto SLEEP NO MORE — performed by Gunther Rost and the Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg under Roland Böer at the Meistersingerhalle Nürnberg — was met with great acclaim from press and audience alike. A chamber version of the work will receive its premiere in September 2026 at the Kölner Philharmonie, performed by Gunther Rost and the Alinde Quartett.

Works (selection)

Musical Theater

  • Der Teufel mit den drei goldenen Haaren (from 7 years) – WP 2012 Staatsoper Hannover, Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester, Benjamin Reiners
  • it will be rain tonight (chamber opera in one act) – WP 2013 Deutsche Oper Berlin, Ensemble Echo, Manuel Nawri
  • Oh, wie schön ist Panama (from 5 years) – WP 2015 Staatsoper Hannover, Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester, Benjamin Reiners
  • Der Muschelfischer (musical theater for children, actors, children's choir, orchestra) – WP 2016 Cologne Philharmonic Hall, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, Andreas Fellner

Ballet

  • grotesque & arabesque (for great orchestra, based on motifs of Edgar Allan Poe) – WP 2019 Staatsoper Hannover, Jörg Mannes (choreography), Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester, Valtteri Rauhalammi

Orchestra

  • a journey after midnight for orchestra (2015) – commissioned by: Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento
  • ropes and knots for orchestra (2019) – commissioned by: Theater Kiel

Solo with Orchestra

  • CIRCLE AND TANGENT for saxophone and orchestra (2022) – commissioned by: KölnMusik GmbH, WP 2023 Cologne Philharmonie, Lutz Koppetsch, Duisburger Philharmoniker, Mario Chiacchiarini
  • BIRDS GONE ASTRAY for organ and baroque orchestra (2023) – commissioned by: Orgelfrühling Steiermark, WP 2023 Graz, Gunther Rost, 4D Barock
  • SLEEP NO MORE for organ and orchestra (2024) – commissioned by: Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg, WP 2025 Meistersingerhalle Nürnberg, Gunther Rost, Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg, Roland Böer

Ensemble & Chamber Music

  • about happy animals – WP 2013 Ensemble Modern, Erik Nielsen
  • guinea pig walking home – WP 2014 Deutsche Oper Berlin (orchestra academists)
  • Ada‘s Lullaby (for saxophone and ensemble) – WP 2017 Lutz Koppetsch & La piccola banda
  • ATTRACTED BY SHINY OBJECTS – 2020, 9 saxophones
  • TWILIGHT TO GO – 2020, double bass quartet and jazz piano
  • STARFISH REBELLION – 2020, piano trio
  • COMING UP FOR AIR – 2021, clarinet quintet
  • FEVER SKETCHES – 2021, string quartet
  • SALTO MORTALE – 2022, percussion quintett
  • STARFISH REBELLION II – 2022, baroque ensemble
  • SLEEP NO MORE for organ and string quartet – commissioned by: KölnMusik, WP 2026 Cologne Philharmonie, Gunther Rost, Alinde Quartet

Choir

  • zerreißende Fläche (for eight-part mixed choir and string quartet) – WPA 2014 Hungarian Radio Choir
  • Lux Aeterna (for eight-part mixed choir) – WP 2015 Kunstsommerchor Kloster Irsee, Philipp Amelung

Voice Solo

  • Augenblicke: Signaturen, for Baritone (or Bass) and piano (2013)
  • about silence and seduction, for mezzo soprano and piano (2014) – WP Hamburg City Hall (Elsa Dreisig, Lucie Sansen)

Solo Instrument

  • EPILOG MIT LÖWE, piano – commissioned by: Schumannfest Bonn, WP 2023 (Aaron Pilsan)
  • Traumnovelle (Dream Story), organ & recitation – WP 2024, Orgelfrühling Steiermark (Gunther Rost)