Albrecht Zummach learned to play the guitar in his youth as a self-taught and sat down in particular with the music of Hanns Eisler apart. He began his musical career as a songwriter and wrote chansons. From 1978 to 1982 Zummach studied at the College of Music in Cologne in the main subject classical guitar first with Professor Karl-Heinz Böttner, later with Ansgar Krause and came here to the New Music. These different areas have been influential in composing.
Since 1972 he has worked as a composer and guitarist with the singer and songwriter Joe Knipp and appeared together with him as a chanson duo. 1984 expanded the duo to the vibraphone player Clemens Dreyer, who had also studied at the Cologne Conservatory, the band Zinnober, which since then plays in the same cast: Joe Knipp (lyrics, vocals), Albrecht Zummach (composition, guitar instruments) and Clemens Dreyer (vibraphone). The trio gave guest performances throughout Germany with its German-speaking chansons and toured mainly in the 1980s through Germany. After a 12-year break, the band had their comeback in 1998 and since then again concerts, such as in Cologne in the „Altes Pfandhaus” or in the „Roter Salon”.
Since the late 1980s Zummach deals primarily with the composition of solo and ensemble works of New Music. He writes stage music, as, among other things for the - since the founding in 1987 under artistic direction of Joe Knipp - Cologne Theater am Sachsenring (TAS), where in 2008 as a larger collaboration with Knipp the theater revue „Für alle Fälle Fritz”was created. In addition, set Zummach texts for various chansonniers. Since 1990 he gives guitar lessons at the music school in Wipperfürth, since 2005 also at the Rheinische Musikschule in Cologne.
Zummach is a member of the Cologne Society for Contemporary Music (KGNM), as well as a founding member of the Initiativkreis Freie Musik (IFM), the umbrella organization of the professional free music scene in Cologne. From 2003 to 2012 Zummach worked in the board of KGNM and was instrumental in numerous concert projects.
From 2005 to 2015, he led together with John McAlpine the project ensemble 05 and worked on behalf of the KGNM “annually for the Cologne Music Night a large-capacity contemporary work with equal participation of laymen and professional musicians.” In addition to A Collection of Rocks by John Cage, Chambers by Alvin Lucier, The Great Learning by Cornelius Cardew and Act / back view of Peter Ablinger were commissioned by Antoine Beuger, Makiko Nishikaze, Andreas Wagner, Friedrich Jaecker, Oxana Omelchuk and Albrecht Zummach and John McAlpine listed. Based on his experience with this special ensemble, he and John McAlpine were invited in 2012 and 2015 to realize the two works of Cage and Cardew for the festival Eight Bridges / Music for Cologne.
In the North Rhine-Westphalian working group New Music NRW Zummach initiated the concert series stations, which he supervises since 2012 as overall coordinator.
The CQ - Cologne Contemporary Ukulele Ensemble (2013)
After the ukulele became increasingly popular in Germany since the late 1990s, Zummach dealt with the technical capabilities of the guitar-like plucked instruments and finally founded in 2013 together with five like-minded a ukulele ensemble for contemporary music (English Contemporary Music), the so-called CQ - Cologne Contemporary Ukulele Ensemble. The ensemble debuted at the end of 2013 with a world premiere of Zummach's Q's for 5 ukuleles & bass kalimba in Cologne's Kolumba, the Art Museum of the Archdiocese of Cologne occurs since then regularly throughout North Rhine-Westphalia.
Zummach's works have been and are listed nationwide, they are published in Eichen Musikverlag, Berlin.
Albrecht Zummach lives and works in Cologne.
(Rainer Stelle)