Gerhard Baumann was born on 3rd September, 1921 in Klein Rogan.
From 1936 to 1940 he studied trumpet and violin and then worked as an orchestral musician. He finished his postgraduate studies in composition and conducting in 1953 and became leader of the police orchstra in Schwerin. After a short employment at the Rundfunkblasorchester Leipzig (Leipzig broadcast band) he was hired as principal conductor of the Orchestra of the Natioanl People's Army (GDR) in 1959. 1970 he was appointed Generalmusikdirektor (highest ranking conductor). From 1981 to 1992 he returned to Leipzig as principal conductor of the Rundfunkblasorchester. After that he worked as freelance composer and arranger in Berlin, where he lived until his death in 2006.