Siegfried Matthus (13 April 1934 – 27 August 2021) was a German composer, conductor, and festival founder and manager. Some of his operas, such as Judith, were premiered at the Komische Oper Berlin in East Berlin. In 1991, he founded the chamber opera festival Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg and directed it until 2018. In 2005, he composed a Te Deum for the reopening of the Dresden Frauenkirche. Matthus is considered one of Germany's most often performed contemporary composers. Biography Matthus was born in , East Prussia. His father was a farmer and played for entertainment and dancing. His father made sure that the son received piano lessons. In 1944, his parents fled with him to in the Ruppin district. Matthus attended secondary school in Rheinsberg, followed by studies at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. After graduating, he continued his studies in composition with Rudolf Wagner-Régeny and Hanns Eisler, and was shortly thereafter made the youngest composer in residence in the history of the Komische Oper Berlin by Walter Felsenstein. Stage works Matthus composed more than a dozen stage works. The opera Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke (Cornet Christoph Rilke's song of love and death ) after Rainer Maria Rilke was completed in 1983, first performed in Dresden in 1985, and performed also by the Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 1993. The opera Graf Mirabeau (1987–88) is set during the French Revolution. It was commissioned for the 200th anniversary of Bastille Day and enjoyed simultaneous productions in both East and West Germany as well as Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union and France. The opera was recorded by the Berlin State Opera. Other opera recordings include his Old Testament-based "opera vision" Judith (1984) by Komische Oper Berlin and Der letzte Schuss with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2003 he composed music for both a ballet and an opera adaptation of Michael Ende's The Neverending Story. Orchestral music Matthus was a prolific composer of works for orchestra as well as chamber and recital compositions. In 1979, Responso, a four-movement symphony was played by the Dresdner Staatskapelle in front of the UN in New York City with a worldwide broadcast. He enjoyed a close working relationship with conductor Kurt Masur who presented many world premieres of his music. Masur also conducted what Matthus called "the commission of my life", a Te Deum for the reopening of the Dresden