Martin Lehmann has served as the 29th Kreuzkantor since 2022. His post is one of the most honourable and prestigious positions in Protestant church music.
As a member of the Kreuzchor himself, Martin Lehmann, born in 1973 in Malchin (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), received a comprehensive musical education whilst still at school. Awarded the Rudolf Mauersberger Scholarship, he studied choral conducting at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden under Hans-Christoph Rademann. During his studies, Martin Lehmann served as artistic assistant to the Dresdner Kammerchor and held a teaching post at the Dresden University of Music. He completed his postgraduate studies in choral conducting and orchestral conducting with distinction.
His work with choirs has shaped his career. In 1995, Martin Lehmann founded the chamber choir Cantamus Dresden, in which former members of the Kreuzchor still sing today. Between 2001 and 2011, he conducted various choirs in Leipzig and Wuppertal, and in 2012 he took over as artistic director of the Windsbacher Knabenchor.
His repertoire includes not only the great oratorical work of Bach, Handel, Mozart and Mendelssohn, but also sacred and secular a cappella choral music from all eras. His extensive work is documented on numerous CDs as well as in radio and television recordings. Martin Lehmann also ventured into new territory with the Windsbacher Knabenchor on the first recording of early Baroque music by the Nuremberg composer Johann Staden (April 2015). The most recent recording is the album "Water & Spirit", sacred a cappella music spanning five centuries, featuring percussionist Simone Rubino.
As a choir director, Martin Lehmann has collaborated with numerous renowned orchestras, including the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Dresdner Barockorchester, the Deutsche Kammer-Virtuosen Berlin, the WDR Big Band, the Concerto Palatino, the Ensemble 1704 Prag and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.
With the Windsbacher Knabenchor, Martin Lehmann regularly took part in festivals and gave guest performances at major German concert halls (Alte Oper Frankfurt, Konzerthaus Berlin, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Thomaskirche Leipzig, Frauenkirche Dresden, Herkulessaal Munich, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden). He also undertook tours to other European countries, the USA, China and India, during which he performed at international venues such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, the Oriental Art Center in Shanghai, as well as the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
In May 2017, Martin Lehmann was appointed Director of Church Music (KMD). With this honour, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria recognised his services to church music through his work with the Windsbacher Knabenchor.
In September 2022, Martin Lehmann succeeded Roderich Kreile as Kreuzkantor. Whilst in earlier centuries this role focused primarily on conducting liturgical services, today the responsibilities extend considerably beyond purely artistic duties. As director of the Dresden Kreuzchor, Martin Lehmann also fulfils the role of municipal artistic director.