Hielscher studied
church music at the
Hochschule für Musik Detmold (
A), and
carillon in
Utrecht. From 1969 - 1973 he was church musician in
Juist and from 1973 - 1979 in
Bielefeld. He has been the organist and carillonneur at the
Marktkirche in
Wiesbaden since 1979. He created a series of weekly free recitals called
Orgelmusik zur Marktzeit (organ music at market time) on Saturdays at 11:30 a.m., in which he or sometimes a guest organist perform seasonal music. The 2000th event is on 7 December 2019. He has appeared in a regular concert on New Year's Eve together with his colleague at
St. Bonifatius,
Gabriel Dessauer until 2010, whereas he played with his successor since 2011. In 1985 he worked at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church in
Los Angeles in exchange with Samuel Swartz, and he has been teaching at the
University of Redlands in California since 1986. Hielscher is active as a concert organist and has played more than 3000 organ concerts worldwide. He retired from the position at the Marktkirche in 2009 but has kept the tradition of Orgelmusik zur Marktzeit. ==Awards==