Bernd Goetzke was born in Hannover, Germany in 1951.
At the age of 13 he was already accepted as a student at the Hannover University of Music and Drama, where he studied Piano with Prof. Karl-Heinz Kaemmerling until obtaining his Concert Soloist Diploma in 1975.

Another important phase in his pianistic development was his long association (1969 to 1977) with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, who regarded him as his last pupil.

He also participated in Beethoven courses given by Wilhelm Kempff and Claudio Arrau. Bernd Goetzke was awarded prizes in several international competitions (Paris, Milan, Epinal, Athens, Brussels, amongst others).

Already at the age of 25 he was appointed Lecturer at the Hannover University of Music and Drama and became professor in 1982. Today Bernd Goetzke is one of Germany's most sought-after teachers and musicians.
He teaches a class of young pianists from all over the world, and many of them have become prize winners in international competitions.

He is Head of the Concert Soloist Programme in Hanover and in addition he holds numerous Master Classes in Germany and worldwide. He is also involved in the training of soloists and the development of young talents outside of the University environment: as jury member of many international competitions (Moscow, Munich, Bolzano, Orlians, Oslo, London, St. Petersburg, Kharkov, Salt Lake City, Shenzhen, Shanghai and many others), for example, or as Artistic Advisor of the festival Braunschweig Classix Festival and as Chair of a society supporting young artists. Since the year 2000 he is Director of a newly-founded Institute for highly-gifted children. This Institute, conceived by him, is attached to the Hannover University of Music and Drama and the only one of its kind in Germany.

In his concert repertoire the names Bach, Beethoven, Schumann and Debussy appear frequently, but also works of the twentieth century, reflecting his fascination with the stylistic richness and diversity of the period between Late Romanticism and Avantgarde.

In the realm of chamber music or concerto repertoire respectively one could mention Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, Bartok Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, the German premiere of Bartok's Piano Quintet, the two Rhapsodies by Gershwin or Skryabin's Prometheus.

Bernd Goetzke has also published several articles on subject-related matters (Freedom in Interpretation, Pedal Technique, Bach's Melodic Characteristics, Articulation and Phrasing in Classical Music etc.)