Wolfgang Rieck

Wolfgang Rieck was born and brought up in the port of Rostock on the Baltic.  After school, he went to sea, and his voyages included two to Cuba and two to India and west Africa.  From 1974 until 1978 he studied electronic engineering at the University of Rostock and he then worked for three years as an engineer in the city.  He also trained in classical guitar and singing at the Rostock Conservatory.  Since then, he has worked as a freelance singer and songwriter.  He played in a duo with Joachim Piatkowski and in a folk/satire trio.  He was also involved in a children’s circus.  His strong interest in plattdeutschen lieder (songs in the old, low German language) led to his releasing two LPs and a CD.

Recently, Wolfgang Rieck has mostly performed his own songs for adults and children.  He continues to work across the boundaries of music and literature, featuring texts by Theodore Kramer and John Brinckman and sometimes exploring black humour and the grotesque.  A regular collaborator is Michael Augustin, with whom he’ll be working in Shetland.