(Photo credit: Georg Anderhub)

Conductor Helmuth Rilling has passed away at the age of 92.

Rilling was born in Stuttgart, Germany in May 29, 1933. He studied at the Protestant Seminaries in Württemberg and Stuttgart College of Music. Later, he studied with Fernando Germani in Rome and at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, and with Leonard Bernstein in New York.

Rilling founded several choral projects and festivals including Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart. Oregon Bach Festival, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, and the Festival Ensemble Stuttgart, among others. Rilling also had a successful career teaching organ and choral conducting at Spandauer Kirchenmusikschule and Frankfurter Musikhochschul. He held director positions with the Frankfurter Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Toronto Bach Festival, and the Royal Philharmonic of Galicia.

The conductor spearheaded the preparation and recording of the complete choral works of Bach, on modern instruments. In total, the task involved well over 1,000 pieces of music, spanning 170 discs. Rilling also recorded many romantic and classical choral and orchestral works, including the works by Johannes Brahms. Rilling’s recording of Krzysztof Penderecki’s “Credo,” commissioned and performed by the Oregon Bach Festival, won the 2001 Grammy Award for best choral performance.

In 2004, Rilling received the Bach Medal, and was the 2011 recipient of the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize. For Rilling’s 75th birthday, his record label Hänssler Classic released his entire Bach edition on iTunes.

Rilling died in Leonberg on Feb. 11.