Helmuth Rilling

German conductor, organist and educator, born May 29, 1933 in Stuttgart; died February 11, 2026 in Leonberg, Germany. He studied organ at the Stuttgart College of Music, in Rome and in Siena. In 1954, while still a student, Helmuth Rilling founded his first choir, the 40-member Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart, with which he gained an international reputation.