The work of the conductor Ingo Metzmacher is characterized by a steadfast commitment to 20th- and 21st-century music, and by innovative programming.
He was general music director of the Hamburg State Opera (1997—2005), chief conductor of the Dutch National Opera (2005—7) and chief conductor and artistic director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (2007—10). From 2016 to 2025 he was artistic director of the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen in Hanover.
He works regularly as a guest conductor with renowned orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
Conducting engagements in the 2026/27 season will include Henze’s Voices with the Ensemble Modern in Cologne and with Klangforum Wien in Vienna and Madrid; a concert featuring works by Wagner, Debussy and Henze at the Verdi Festival in Parma; the world premiere of Hèctor Parra’s Miroir de nos peines and Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District at the Paris Opéra; the European premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Trumpet Concerto with Håkan Hardenberger and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in Paris; Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie with Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra at the Konzerthaus Dortmund; a concert featuring works by Boulanger, Stravinsky and Bernstein with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and concerts in Reykjavik, Brussels, Bolzano and Copenhagen.
Highlights of past seasons have included new productions of Rihm’s Die Eroberung von Mexico, Verdi‘s Falstaff, Enescu’s Œdipe and Nono’s Intolleranza 1960, along with Henze’s Das Floß der Medusa at the Salzburg Festival; Strauss‘s Salome at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; Œdipe and Philip Glass’s Satyagraha at the Paris Opéra; Braunfels’s Die Vögel at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich; Magnard’s Guercœur at the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg and the world premiere of Francesco Filidei’s Il nome della rosa at La Scala. He has also conducted five European tours to date with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester.
With the NDR Radiophilharmonie at the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen he conducted performances of Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder, Berlioz’s Grande Messe des morts, Mahler’s Eighth Symphony and Bernstein’s Mass. He gave the world premiere of Mark Andre’s rwḥ 1— 4 with the Ensemble Modern.
His extensive discography includes recordings of his legendary Hamburg New Year’s Eve concerts under the title Who is Afraid of 20th Century Music?, Hartmann’s symphonies with the Bamberg Symphony, the world premiere of Henze’s Ninth Symphony and Messiaen’s Éclairs sur l’Au-Delà … with the Vienna Philharmonic. He also released an album of works by Stravinsky with the SWR Symphony Orchestra and Mark Andre’s cycle riss and the album Beschenkt with the Ensemble Modern.
Ingo Metzmacher is author of the books Keine Angst von neuen Tönen and Vorhang auf! Oper entdecken und erleben.
