Johannes Messchaert

Johannes Martinus Messchaert was a Dutch baritone and singing teacher, born in Hoorn in 1857 and died in Zurich in 1922. His career was devoted mainly to the concert platform and oratorio, and his name is linked above all to the lied and to the music of Bach.

He trained with Karl Schneider in Cologne, Franz Wüllner in Munich and Julius Stockhausen in Frankfurt. As a concert singer he achieved great renown, especially as Jesus in Bach's St Matthew Passion. At the same time he taught in Amsterdam, Wiesbaden, Frankfurt and Berlin, where in 1911 he was appointed professor of singing at the Königliche Hochschule für Musik.

In 1920 he moved to Zurich, where he taught at the conservatory until his death.