‘I was congratulated for being at the World Cup’

In this case, it's the Leipzig organist Stefan Kießling (40), who is five years older than the former Leverkusen player. bayer04.de met up with the professional musician for an interview…

Mr Kießling, are you a football fan?
I have to admit, I'm not a big fan. If the World Cup or similar is happening then I do watch games on television. Apart from that I don't really watch any football. But I do understand the emotions football arouses apart from at the World Cup.

For example?
I did live in Cottbus for a number of years. At the start of the 2000's I picked up and followed the development of the Cottbus team. I thought it was great back then – even now I wasn't permanently in front of the TV or at the stadium.

Does Bayer 04 Leverkusen mean anything to you?
Yes, but as I said: incidentally if at all. I've never seen Leverkusen play or been to the stadium. Of course, that's also because I live in Leipzig. But I do know what you're on about: I'm now aware that there was a football player who has the same name… He's younger than me, a bit taller and, in contrast to me, has blonde hair. (He laughs)

When did you first become aware of him?
I don't think I can say exactly but it was more gradual. I didn't know there was a footballer called Stefan Kießling but at some point there were comments on my website because fans clearly thought I was the footballer. That was a bit confusing at first…

What sort of comments were they?
Most were actually very nice. The people that made them actually thought they were in contact with the football player although my website is clearly exclusively about music. (He laughs) For example, I was congratulated in 2010 for being at the World Cup with Germany… But there were a couple of unpleasant contributions from people who complained why I have this website address as a musician and not the football player.

Has there been any other confusion?

Rarely. There was a phase where if I had to enter my name somewhere that I got replies to the footballer Stefan Kießling. That happens but it's really calmed down in the meantime.

How did you react to that?
I thought it was actually very funny at the start. But the name Stefan Kießling isn't that rare now: There are two Stefan Kießlings in my street in Leipzig. And once with an insurance company, I was confused with a namesake who had exactly the same date of birth as I did. That was crazy. There was also the occasion where I received emails that were actually meant for the football player…

What were they about?
The one time, it was three or four years ago, there was a request from a magazine asking me whether I would want to come to an event. I said yes and then there was another enquiry about whether I was really the football player. Somebody from the management had clearly chosen the wrong Stefan Kießling. (He laughs). And then there was a request from a young football fan who wanted to have a shirt. I wrote back to him to say I'm sorry but I'm the 'wrong one’ and that I didn't know the email address of the 'right one'.

Let's come onto you. You are a professional concert organist and you not only perform concerts in Germany but also worldwide.
Yes, that's my daily bread-and-butter. Actually I’m normally always on the road through work and I perform concerts in Germany or somewhere else in the world such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Cairo. Oh, I've just thought of something (he laughs): I was on the way to a concert in Irkutsk when I got into conversation with a Russian coach on the Trans-Siberian Railway. He knew all about German sport and he listed a few footballers names and one of them was Stefan Kießling. That made me smile inwardly…

What's the attraction of a concert for you? Is it the musiv you play or the number of people in the audience?
It varies a lot. Overall, there are often several little experiences that make a concert great. I once held a concert in a really small town just before the Arctic Circle. The audience wasn't that big but it was night time and the atmosphere outside was just totally idyllic. The biggest audience I played for was around 2,000 people – of course, that's very different from the numbers in a football stadium. But that's very rare and with us you could possibly get to that number if concerts are streamed live on the Internet, as for example with the Bach Festival in Leipzig in 2015 where I played the opening piece. Then there's obviously a lot of adrenaline involved.

Have you ever played in Leverkusen?
No, but very close: I gave a concert a couple of years ago in the Altenberger Dom. Last year I played in a concert in Cologne and have also been to Wuppertal and Düren.

Where was your last concert?
My last concert was in Florida at the start of February. But then the coronavirus pandemic arrived and since then I haven't been able to do anything else unfortunately. All the concerts have been cancelled.

That sounds like a very uncomfortable time for a creative artist.
It really is a tricky situation at the moment. But I don’t like to complain; I'm happy that I'm healthy. That's the most important thing. But I have lots of friends and colleagues who are also professional musicians and have a very, very good reputation internationally who are currently suffering financially due to the Covid-19 crisis. And, of course, it's particularly bad if families are involved. At the moment there are no concerts anywhere – and that's obviously a serious situation for our sector; above all for people who depend on live performances. For many of us, music is not only a beautiful hobby but also a profession we are doing full time to make a living. With us, wages are not currently reduced to the short-time work level but at the moment it's a case of no income. For many other sectors, the state has announced the provision of financial support on a credit basis but unfortunately that does not extend to freelance musicians. We are running the risk of falling through the net and obviously that's a worry that affects very many musicians at the moment.

How are you keeping your head above water?
Well, it's difficult as I've said. I'm waiting for commissions but unfortunately they are currently limited to lessons or coaching via the Internet.

Thank you very much for the interview.