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Andreas N. Tarkmann, who was born in Hannover in 1956 and initially who trained as an oboist, is considered to be one of the most creative arrangers of instrumental and vocal music working today. In addition, Tarkmann has had great success as a versatile composer in a wide range of musical forms.

Tarkmann's arrangements and harmoniemusik have been commissioned by internationally renowned ensembles (such as the Scharoun Ensemble, the Linos Ensemble, hr-brass and the Berlin Philharmonic brass players) as well as broadcasters at home and abroad and have since found their way into the repertoire of other well-known ensembles. These arrangements include works by Mozart, Smetana, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Prokofiev, among others. The recording of his harmoniemusik of Mendelssohn's “Midsummer Night's Dream“ by the German Chamber Philharmonic Wind Soloists won the “Echo-Klassik” prize in 1998. Many Tarkmann arrangements are available on CD, including recordings by Placido Domingo, Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Albrecht Mayer and James Galway. The clarinettist Sabine Meyer's recording of Carl and Johann Stamitz' clarinet concerto featuring cadences and decorations by Tarkmann also won an “Echo-Klassik“ prize. Another speciality of Andreas N. Tarkmann is the reconstruction or instrumentation of incomplete works, such as Julius Rietz' concert piece for wind quintet and orchestra, the cantata “Die Teilung der Erde” which is ascribed to Joseph Haydn, and the “Composizione da Camera” by Giuseppe Verdi.

Tarkmann's works as a composer include family concerts such as the Hans Christian Andersen stories “The Princess and the Pea” (Rhenish Philharmonic Orchestra Koblenz, 2005) and “The Dung Beetle” (Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, 2004), and “The Pigs Wedding” by Helme Heine (Aachen Symphony Orchestra, 2007); but also youth operas such as “La belle au bois dormant” (Essen Philharmonic, 2007), “The Robber Hotzenplotz” (Aachen Theatre, 2009) and “Didos Geheimnis” (Mädchenchor Hannover, 2011). His songs based on cabaret texts by Friedhelm Kändler, Elke Heidenreich, Wernder Fincks and Erich Kästner are considered standard repertoire by many chanson singers. Andreas N. Tarkmann has taught at the Mannheim College of Music as professor of instrumentation and arrangement since 2001.