Richard Laugs

Who was Richard Laugs?

Richard Laugs was a well-known German conductor and pianist.

Laugs was the son of conductor Robert Laugs. He studied in Munich and Berlin under both Joseph Pembaur and Artur Schnabel amongst others. After his academic studies he undertook a concert tour as a pianist and worked as a Répétiteur in Hannover and Berlin.

From 1945 to 1951 Laugs was the first Kapellmeister at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. He attained a university teaching position at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim and became its president in 1951. In 1955 he became a professor.

In 2000 his widow and the Mannheimer law professor Claus Meissner created the Beethoven Klavierwettbewerb Richard Laugs in Laugs' memory.