©Photo: Marco Borggreve

Jörg Widmann

Conductor / Composer / Clarinet

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Composer in Residence: Berliner Philharmoniker (2023/24)
Principal Guest Conductor: NDR Radiophilharmonie
Principal Guest Conductor: Mozarteumorchester Salzburg
Associated Conductor: Münchener Kammerorchester
Artistic Partner: Sinfonietta Riga
Creative Partner: Deutsche Radio Philharmonie

Jörg Widmann is considered one of the most versatile and intriguing artists of his generation. The 2023/24 season sees him appear in all facets of his work, as a clarinettist, conductor and composer, including as Composer in Residence of Berliner Philharmoniker and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, as Principal Guest Conductor of NDR Radiophilharmonie, Guest Conductor of Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Associated Conductor of Münchener Kammerorchester, Creative Partner of Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Artistic Partner of Riga Sinfonietta and Artist in Focus at Alte Oper Frankfurt.

Continuing his intense activities as a conductor this season, Jörg Widmann appears for the first time with Berliner Philharmoniker and returns to Bamberger Symphoniker, SWR Symphonieorchester, BBC Scottish, Finnish Radio symphony orchestras, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Juilliard Orchestra New York.

He also continues his longstanding chamber music partnerships with renowed artists such as Clemens Hagen, Carolin Widmann, Nicolas Altstaedt, Sarah Aristidou, Denis Kozhukhin and Hagen Quartet and performs chamber recitals at Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Philharmonie Berlin, London’s Wigmore Hall, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Hall and Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional de Música.

Widmann gave the world premiere of Mark Andre’s Clarinet Concerto über at the Donaueschinger Musiktage 2015. Other clarinet concertos dedicated to and written for him include Wolfgang Rihm’s Musik für Klarinette und Orchester (1999) and Aribert Reimann’s Cantus (2006).

Jörg Widmann studied clarinet with Gerd Starke in Munich and Charles Neidich at the Juilliard School in New York and later became himself Professor of Clarinet and Composition, first at University of Music Freiburg and since 2017 as Chair Professor for Composition at the Barenboim-Said Academy Berlin. He is a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin and a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, Free Academy of the Arts in Hamburg (2007), German Academy of Dramatic Arts and Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz (2016) and received an Honorary Doctorate from University of Limerick, Ireland in February 2023.

He studied composition with Kay Westermann, Wilfried Hiller, Hans Werner Henze and Wolfgang Rihm. His works continue to receive many awards, most recently Bach-Preis der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg, as well as Musikpreis der Landeshauptstadt München.

His compositions are performed regularly by conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Daniel Harding, Kent Nagano, Franz Welser-Möst, Christian Thielemann, Iván Fischer, Andris Nelsons and Sir Simon Rattle and premiered by orchestras as Wiener and Berliner Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, London Symphony Orchestra, and many others.

This season sees the world premiere of Jörg Widmann’s Schumannliebe für Bariton und Ensemble with Matthias Goerne, Peter Rundel and the Remix Ensemble at Casa da Música. Currently, he is writing a Horn Concerto, commissioned by the Berliner Philharmoniker, to be premiered by Stefan Dohr and the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle at Philharmonie Berlin in May 2024.

HarrisonParrott represents Jörg Widmann for worldwide general management.

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 7 in A major | Jörg Widmann | WDR Symphony Orchestra © WDR Klassik

It’s the death of the arts when we stand still. - Jörg Widmann © Living the Classical Life

Brahms: Clarinet Quintet

“But what makes him so irresistible as a composer and performer alike is the hefty dose of sheer joy in what he does: the pleasure of vital, visceral musicality that promises to bind together classical music of the past and present – and forge a way into the future.”

(The Guardian, January 2018)

“He’s a smiling, buoyant presence on stage, responding to each section of the orchestra in turn, locking eyes as well as semiquavers with the strings, and moulding melodies and passagework alike with a lithe, transparent tone. This was one of the least indulgent Mozart clarinet concertos I’ve heard, and its special grace lay in the unforced way Widmann, Gražinytė-Tyla and the orchestra played off each other.”

(The Arts Desk, October 2017)

“Widmann had a weight of expression with a lightness of manner while playing Brahms, Berg, and Schumann that was captivating, exciting the mind and touching the heart. The Berg and Schumann pieces share qualities of each composer’s vocal music; Berg’s Op. 5 seemed a twin in color and expressive quality to his Sieben frühe Lieder, and the Fantasiestücke echoed the likes of Dichterliebe. Widmann’s clarinet sang like a great vocalist.”

(New York Classical Review, April 2017)

“Jörg Widmann’s five string quartets make up a kind of meta quartet – a massive web of musical dialectics that celebrate, explode and generally redefine the genre’s lofty, loaded heritage. No other contemporary composer has grappled with quartet form quite so intelligently or so probingly. It’s astoundingly virtuosic stuff, mentally and musically, and jaw-droppingly beautiful at times: just listen to the gossamer-fine and haunting textures of the fourth quartet, or the stark violence that ends the third.”

(The Guardian, July 2015)

“Tuesday’s performance featured Germany’s lively and engaging Jörg Widmann, a welcome presence whether as composer, clarinettist or conductor…Throughout he displayed masterfully fluid tone control over every register, from the highest cloud-covered peak to the lowest velvet burblings.”

(The Times, February 2015)