Born in 1962, he studied composition with Klaus Huber, Emanuel Nunes, and Mathias Spahlinger as well as musical analysis with Peter Förtig. His music is performed notably by Ensemble Modern, Ensemble intercontemporain, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Ensemble l’instant donné, ensemble recherche, Neue Vocalsolisten, ensemble ascolta, Das Neue Ensemble, the radio symphony orchestras of the WDR and SWR, DSO Berlin, Seoul Philharmonic, and the Philharmonia Orchestra of London. He has been awarded such prizes as the Comité de Lecture of the Ensemble intercontemporain in 1997 and the Praetorius Prize in 2009. His chamber opera Les petites filles modèles, premiered at the Opéra de Bastille in 1997, was performed many times in France. In 2008 he participated in the “into” project in Hong Kong.

Johannes Schöllhorn composes chamber, vocal and orchestral music, as well as music for the theatre. Apart from his own compositions he also creates transcriptions, e.g. Pierre Boulez’s ...explosante–fixe.... In 1995–2000 he taught at the Musikhochschule Zürich-Winterthur. He conducted the Ensemble für Neue Musik at the Musikhochschule Freiburg (until 2004) and taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover (2001–9), where he also directed the Institut für neue Musik. Since 2009 he has been a professor of composition and director of the Institut für Neue Musik at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. Johannes Schöllhorn has conducted courses in composition at the Fondation Royaumont, Bartók Festival in Hungary, Ictus-Seminar in Belgium, Conservatoire de Paris, Conservatory of Music in Tianjin, Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Hong Kong, Takefu Festival, Tokyo Ondai University, Seoul Philharmonic, Centro San Fedele in Milan, Kyiv, and Jakarta.

Major works: Brandung and Ginsterlicht for choir (1983–84), Windmaschine for four recorders (1985), musarion for viola (1985–86), Septett for voices and instruments (1986–87), HandStücke for percussion (1987), Schlussvignette & Retraiteschuss for three string instruments (1987), Hexagramm for three guitars (1987–89), phanias for violin (1989), Der Vorhang geht auf. Das Theater stellt ein Theater vor for speaker and ensemble to words by Ludwig Tieck (1989), les ombres – die schatten for two percussionists (1990), Pentagramm for piano and four percussionists (1990–1), about the seventh for ensemble (1991–92), Marien-Lieder for three alto voices (1991–92), berstend-starr for ensemble (1992), Pierrot lunaire, 12 pieces for mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano after M. Kowalski (1992), Ralentir travaux for ensemble (1992–93), madria for bass clarinet, accordion and cello (1993–94), les petites filles modèles, chamber opera (1995), Rondo for violin and chamber orchestra (1996–97), under one’s breath for flute, harp and viola (1996), Suite for Piano, Two Percussionists and Harp (1998), kazabana for ensemble (1998), tiento for ensemble (1999), red and blue for six percussionists (1999), senza parole for choir (2000), liu-yi / Wasser for orchestra (2001–2), Spur (for Józef Koffler) for ensemble (2003), Anamorphoses for chamber ensemble after J. S. Bach’s Kunst der Fuge (2001–4), Rote Asche, music–film–theatre for three actresses and three instrumentalists (2004), phosphor for percussion and orchestra (2005), play for six voices (2006), sérigraphie: nocturne for ensemble (2007), rota for contrabass clarinet and string quartet (2008), in nancarrow for two pianists (2008), Hero und Leander II for ensemble (2008), oréade for violin and piano (2009), Niemandsland for ensemble (2009), Madrigali a Dio for six voices (2009), clouds and sky for piano and orchestra (2010), feldrhythmen for great choir and light installation (2011), pièces croisées for large ensemble (2012), Dämmerung-Schmetterlinge for orchestra (2013), marmi for ensemble (2013), sous-bois for six string instruments (2014), aki no kaze for six singers and orchestra (2014), Sinaïa 1916 for baritone saxophone, piano and percussion (2015).