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Hugo Distler (Nuremberg, June 24, 1908 – Berlin, November 1, 1942) was a German organist, choral conductor, teacher and composer. Born in Nuremberg, he attended the Leipzig Conservatory from 1927 to 1931, first as a conducting student with piano as his secondary subject, but changing later, on the advice of his teacher, in composition and organ. He studied there with Martienssen (piano), Ramin (organ) and Grabner (harmony) In October 1933 Distler was appointed head of the chamber music department at the Lübeck Conservatory, and at about the same time he began teaching at the Spandauer Kirchenmusikschule (Spandau school of church music). In 1937 Distler was appointed as a lecturer at the Württemberg Hochschulefür Musik in Stuttgart, where he also directed its two choirs. In 1940 he moved to Berlin to teach and conduct at the Hochschulefür Musik there, and in 1942 he was named the conductor of the State and Cathedral Choir.