Martin (Don) Doepke

Born in Cologne in 1957, he began his musical career playing the cello, but soon realised that keyboard instruments were his world. He switched to piano at the age of twelve and studied at what was then the Conservatorium of the City of Cologne – now the Rheinische Musikschule.

After studying music education in Cologne, he opted to tour Germany with a Cologne-based band rather than working as a teacher. In the meanwhile, Doepke was at home on the Hammond organ and other keyboards. A series of musical engagements in various band projects followed, but his desire to compose and arrange grew. Beginning in the mid 1980s, this passion resulted in numerous recordings with artists including Gianna Nannini, Heinz Rudolf Kunze, Ultravox, Anne Haigis, the Bläck Fööss, the Höhner. He started writing for theatre and TV productions in 1988 and still does.

In 1993 he moved into the world of musicals, as musical director for the Cologne adaptation of the Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors. In partnership with the creative team from this production, saw the 1994 creation of his first musical, Beauty and the Beast, based on the original French fairy tale La belle et la bête and not to be confused with the Disney musical. This work has been on numerous tours and on German-speaking stages and today remains a success. The fantasy musical Dara & Gomo followed in 2000, and in 2005 the musical Robin Hood – for Love and Justice. The latter enjoyed numerous performances in Germany and even travelled to South Korea, where it was performed in Korean.

Since 2000, a series of CD productions has followed, including the series Piano Dreams for Sony Music Germany and numerous arrangements for crossover projects inspired by a 1999 tour with the legendary Deep Purple mastermind, Jon Lord.

In addition to his multifaceted artistic activities, Martin Doepke has taught popular music at the Rheinische Musikschule in Cologne since 1990.