Born in Munich in 1973, Florian Wiegand studied arts management in Potsdam and in Leicester, as well as at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he completed a master’s degree in 2001. During his studies, he gained work experience at festivals and orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, the Berlin Festwochen, the Kunstfest Weimar, the youth orchestra festival Young Euro Classic, the Salzburg Easter Festival and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
In 2001 Florian Wiegand became executive assistant to the artistic and managing director of the Konzerthaus in Dortmund, a concert hall that opened in 2002 and has since gained an international reputation. His responsibilities included founding a choral academy as well as the installation of a marketing department. He also contributed substantially to the hall’s artistic planning and the development of its sponsoring and fundraising concept. In 2005 he was appointed head of artistic administration and artistic planning. In addition to the hall’s various subscription series, Florian Wiegand developed a three-year residency programme with Esa-Pekka Salonen, followed by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, as well as the Zeitinseln festivals, featuring composers such as Bartók, Berg, Henze, Ligeti, Messiaen and Skryabin, and the Junge Wilde series, which showcases the future generation of great artists.
Since 2012 Florian Wiegand has been director of concerts at the Salzburg Festival and in 2016 was also appointed head of the media department.
He is a jury member of the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award at the 2020 Salzburg Festival.