Christoph Koncz
Chief Conductor: Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss am Rhein
Principal Guest Conductor: Les Musiciens du Louvre
Christoph Koncz is rapidly establishing himself internationally as a conductor, having already enjoyed success as a violin soloist, chamber musician and a principal of the Wiener Philharmoniker.
In March 2019 he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss am Rhein, having guest conducted the orchestra the previous summer. He also enjoys a very close relationship with the renowned French period-instrument ensemble Les Musiciens du Louvre, where Marc Minkowski recently appointed him Principal Guest Conductor.
This season he has already made his debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Bern Casino Hall, conducted the Camerata RCO in Schubert and Rossini at the Cartagena Festival, and he returns to the Berlin Philharmonie to conduct the Sinfonie Orchester Berlin in a programme ranging from Handel to Gershwin. He will also conduct four different programmes with Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss am Rhein including works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Johann Strauss II.
Last season Koncz made his Concerto Köln debut at the Cologne Philharmonie and took the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal on tour in Canada with Brahms Symphony No.2. He made his US debut in 2017, conducting the Memphis Symphony in Schumann and also directing them from the violin in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.4.
He made his conducting debut at the 2013 Salzburg Mozartwoche, which was rapidly followed by concerts at prestigious venues including the Berlin, Cologne and Munich Philharmonies, Vienna Konzerthaus and KKL Lucerne, as well as at the Salzburg Festival. Over the last few seasons he has also enjoyed a very close relationship with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra.
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As a violinist, he made his North American debut aged twelve with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal conducted by Charles Dutoit, which led to collaborations with conductors such as Sir Neville Marriner, Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Gábor Takács-Nagy. But even earlier Koncz became famous at the age of nine, when he starred as the child prodigy Kaspar Weiss in The Red Violin, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Score.
In demand as a chamber musician, his musical partners include Leonidas Kavakos, Joshua Bell, Vilde Frang, Renaud Capuçon, Antoine Tamestit, Kim Kashkashian, Gautier Capuçon, Andreas Ottensamer and Rudolf Buchbinder.
Born in 1987 into a family of musicians, Koncz entered the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna at the age of 6. As part of his intensive conducting studies there, he took classes with Mark Stringer as well as masterclasses with Daniel Barenboim and Daniel Harding. He has also conducted the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich as part of David Zinman’s prestigious conducting programme.
“The Neussers love their orchestra and are already worshiping the charming young man…who elicited some beautiful phrases, filigree structures and a wonderfully silvery string tone from the Viennese classics with a very organic approach.”
“Christoph Koncz’s conducting can be described as “breathtaking” without exaggeration.”
“His extremely precise conducting could be admired right from the start of Beethoven’s overture to his only opera ‘Fidelio’: He carried the intimate opening theme all the way up to the crisp ending of the stormy victory anthem.”
“Christoph Koncz, the smile of music. The conductor’s temperament burst out in Schumann’s little symphony, which does not bear the title correctly. Koncz’s gestures are clear, enthusiastic; he supports and encourages the musicians, stimulating by example the lyricism of the Opening and the energy of the Final. […] In this piece as on stage, and
probably in life, Koncz smiles at the music. […] With a lot of common sense, Koncz operates by accumulation of energy, almost placing the Second Symphony of Brahms in an extension of the First, in a great movement of “post-Beethoven symphonic liberation” culminating in a radiant finish. Christoph Koncz will return to Montreal. That’s for sure!”
“Rapturous applause. Christoph Koncz was a sensitive and stylistically confident conductor in both concerts. With Mozart’s Parisian symphony (KV 297), the young Viennese conductor showed how transparent a Mozart symphony can sound. He had all the wind players mix their colours into the overall sound and made all the string parts audible in a distinct way. In Schubert’s 3rd Symphony in D major, he was completely in his element and his joy in conducting was transferred to the whole orchestra. Consequently, he succeeded in delivering an interpretation full of youthful freshness, liveliness and lightness, a real celebration of music. Huge applause for this captivating conducting. We can only hope to see Christoph Koncz on the podium in Jena again soon.”
“Simply brilliant. Christoph Koncz fascinates with an incredible presence, sends impulses in all directions, communicates perfectly with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and combines virtuosity with enormous expressive potential.”
