 After passing his examinations at the Freiburg Conservatory under Harald Genzmer, he became Fortner’s successor in Heidelberg.Here he maintained close contacts with the musicologist Thrasyboulos Georgiades, whose rhythm and language studies influenced him the most, along with his occupation with American spirituals and jazz.From 1963 to 1976 Heinz Werner Zimmermann was director of the Spandauer Kirchenmusikschule (Spandau school of church-music) in Spandau, and then from 1975 to 1996 as successor to Kurt Hessenberg as composition teacher at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts .