Wolfgang Pracht
Mentor, Musician
He asked me what I wanted, so I told him I wanted to write songs that are a gift to the world. He said, “Well, I think I can help you.”
~ Barbara Kooyman, Thanksgiving 2001
When the conductor of the symphony noticed 5 year old Wolfgang Pracht moving his arms to the music while attending his father’s rehearsal, he invited young Wolf to take a look into the score. He was amazed to find that not only did the boy know the music by heart, but he also understood that the dots on the pages signified when the “wood blowers and the metal blowers and the string players were supposed to play”. Wolfgang was invited to conduct the orchestra during a performance of Bach in Bonn to the sheer delight of all the musicians.
After earning his Degrees in English Languages and Literature, German Languages and Literature, Pedagogics, Didactics, Sociology and Comparative Religions from the Rheinische-Friedr.-Wilhelm-Universitaet, Bonn, Germany, Wolfgang worked as a songwriter and a professional musician, recording and performing, in Europe and the United States.
In the 1970’s, he was invited to live with John Lame Deer of the Lakota and later with David Monongye of the Hopi, receiving insights into the unknown from these holy Medicine Men.
Upon his return to Germany, Wolf worked for 16 years as an English teacher and German/English translator. He spent 10 years as a Sociologist at the Youth Cultural Center in Siegburg, Germany and Youth Counselor for County of Windeck, Germany. During this time he was elected to the County Parliament of Windeck where he served on the Committee for Youth and Cultural Affairs.
Through all the years the magic he makes are the songs he creates to heal the hearts of the songwriters.
Townes Van Zandt and Wolfgang Pracht, Bochum, Germany
Photo by Harold F. Eggers