Markus Stenz

Conductor

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Considered one of the leading conductors of our time, Markus Stenz begins his 2026/27 season with a production of Brett Dean’s Of One Blood at Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. The season sees him conduct Warsaw Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony Orchestra for the first time, as well as return to Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao, Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Naples Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. With Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, he concludes Wagner’s Ring cycle with Das Rheingold, following previous performances of Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung.

Recent opera engagements have taken Markus Stenz to Teatro La Fenice, where he conducted new productions of Kurt Weill’s Der Protagonist in 2025 as well as Berg’s Wozzeck and Wagner’s Lohengrin during the 2025/26 season. Other highly acclaimed productions include Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten at Bayerische Staatsoper, the world première of Kurtág’s Fin de partie at Teatro alla Scala and Dutch National Opera in 2018, and a new production of Henze’s Der junge Lord at Maggio Musicale di Firenze in 2025. He has also appeared at leading international opera houses such as Opéra National de Paris, English National Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Artistic ties link Markus Stenz to leading orchestras worldwide, including Gürzenich Orchester, where he served as Music Director of the City of Cologne and Gürzenich-Kapellmeister for eleven years, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestra della Toscana, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and NCPA Orchestra Beijing.

Markus Stenz’ extensive discography includes numerous award-winning recordings, including the complete cycle of Mahler’s symphonies with Gürzenich Orchester. The recording of Mahler’s Symphony No.5 received the German Record Critics’ Award. His discography also includes Strauss’s Don Quixote and Till Eulenspiegel, as well as Schönberg’s Gurrelieder, which received the Choral Award at the 2016 Gramophone Awards.

Markus Stenz studied at Hochschule für Musik in Cologne with Volker Wangenheim and at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and has been a Professor for Conducting at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin since 2023.