Wilfried Staufenbiel, born in 1948 in Wurzen (Saxony), studied cello at the Leipzig Musikhochschule before undertaking vocal studies with Gerhard Eisenmann at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin. Later, from 1981 to 1999, Staufenbiel himself held a teaching appointment in singing at the same Berlin conservatory. He became a member of Rundfunkchor Berlin in 1980.
At the Eisler Hochschule he came into contact with medieval music, to which he became passionately devoted. Staufenbiel continued his training in workshops at the Innsbruck Early Music Festival and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with René Jacobs (singing) and Dominique Vellard in early music performance practice.
He has performed with Montserrat Figueras and Jordi Savall and has passed along his knowledge and experience in his own workshops. In 1995 he found the Ensemble Bicinium, which is dedicated to music of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance but also performs compositions of its own. Another of his passions is jazz. Since 1976 he has appeared as cellist and singer with, initially, Manfred Schulze (baritone sax/clarinet) and, later, Uli Weber (trumpet) and Hermann Keller (piano) in the Berlin Improvisations Trio.
As a vocal pedagogue, he has directed the Strausberg mixed chorus since 2004 and in 2005 founded the Galeriechor of Schönow.
