Christian Jost (born 17 October 1963) is a German composer and conductor. He has served as composer-in-residence for several German orchestras; in 2003, he was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Composer Prize. [1] [2] In 2009, Jost was described by Musical Opinion as "one of the most exciting young composers at work in Germany today." [3]
Born in Trier, Jost studied in Cologne from 1983 to 1988 and at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music from 1988 to 1989. Between 1996 and 1998, he frequently visited China, where he collaborated with a number of orchestras.
He has been composer in residence of the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, the National Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Grafenegg Festival. [4]
Jost is the composer of nine operas and numerous symphonic works, which have been performed by some of the world's leading opera houses and orchestras, including the Zürich Opera, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Grafenegg Festival, the Theater an der Wien. [5]
His opera Hamlet, commissioned by the Komische Oper Berlin in 2008 and premiered there in 2009, was voted "World Premiere of the Year" by the German music magazine Opernwelt . [4] [6]
In 2020, his opera Egmont was premiered at the Theater an der Wien as part of the theatre's Beethoven Year. [7] [8]
Jost was married to the German mezzo-soprano Stella Doufexis, who died in 2015. His reworking of Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe , conceived for her before her death, was released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2019. [9] [10]
Eugen Jochum was a German conductor, best known for his interpretations of the music of Anton Bruckner, Carl Orff, and Johannes Brahms, among others.
Peter Schreier was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century.
Klaus Huber was a Swiss composer and academic based in Basel and Freiburg. Among his students were Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Jarrell, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Toshio Hosokawa, Wolfgang Rihm, and Kaija Saariaho. He received the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 2009, among other awards.
Michael Andreas Gielen was an Austrian conductor and composer known for promoting contemporary music in opera and concert. Principally active in Europe, his performances are characterized by precision and vivacity, aiding his ability to interpret the complex contemporary music he specialized in.
Aribert Reimann was a German composer, pianist, and accompanist, known especially for his literary operas. His version of Shakespeare's King Lear, the opera Lear, was written at the suggestion of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who performed the title role. His opera Medea after Grillparzer's play premiered in 2010 at the Vienna State Opera. He was a professor of contemporary Lied in Hamburg and Berlin. In 2011, he was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize for his life's work.
Christian Thielemann is a German conductor. He is currently Generalmusikdirektor of the Berlin State Opera and chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Berlin.
George Alexander Albrecht was a German conductor and composer, who also worked as a musicologist and academic teacher. A prolific composer at a young age, he was Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of the Staatsoper Hannover from 1965 for 30 years, where he led not only the major operas by Mozart and stageworks by Wagner, but contemporary composers, such as Aribert Reimann's Troades in 1987. He was GMD of the Nationaltheater Weimar from 1996, and taught at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar. Albrecht promoted the works of neglected composers such as Wilhelm Furtwängler, Hans Pfitzner, and Erwin Schulhoff.
The Vienna Singverein is the concert choir of the Vienna Musikverein with around 230 members. It is regularly requested by top orchestras and conductors for large and varied projects.
Christian Gerhaher is a German baritone and bass singer in opera and concert, particularly known as a Lieder singer.
Jörg Widmann is a German composer, conductor and clarinetist. In 2023, Widmann was the third most performed living contemporary composer in the world. Formerly a clarinet and composition professor at the University of Music Freiburg, he is composition professor at the Barenboim–Said Akademie. His most important compositions are the concert overture Con brio, the opera Babylon, an oratorio Arche, Viola Concerto, Kantate and the trumpet concerto Towards Paradise. Widmann has written musical tributes to Classical and Romantic composers. He was awarded the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art in 2018 and the Bach Prize of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in 2023. He was Gewandhaus Composer of the Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig and Composer in Residence for the Berlin Philharmonic.
The Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden is a theater festival in Wiesbaden, Germany. Established in the late 19th century after the Bayreuth Festival, the festival is one of the most distinguished international theatre and music festivals in the world. It is presented annually in May at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, the State Theatre of Hesse in the capital Wiesbaden. The festival currently features performances of operas, ballets, plays and musicals. Visiting companies, mostly from European theaters, present their recent productions along with performances of the Theater Wiesbaden. Concerts from a wide array of music genres are featured as well as artistic circus acts and modern dance presentations. Lectures, recitals, cabaret performances, art showings and readings are also part of the program.
Michael Boder was a German conductor of opera and concert who worked internationally. He was music director of the Basel Opera from 1989 to 1993, of the Liceu in Barcelona from 2008 to 2012, and principal conductor of the Royal Danish Theatre to 2016. He conducted regularly at the Vienna State Opera, including the world premieres of Cerha's Der Riese vom Steinfeld and Reimann's Medea. He also conducted the premieres of operas by Pascal Dusapin, Hans Werner Henze, Luca Lombardi, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Manfred Trojahn, among others.
Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini is a Swiss composer whose operas have been performed at leading European opera houses.
Daniel Behle is a German classical composer and operatic tenor. He has performed at international opera houses and festivals, and has recorded both operas and Lieder recitals.
Eberhard Kloke is a German conductor and composer.
Herbert Willi is an Austrian composer of classical music, whose orchestral works, concertos and chamber music have been performed internationally and also recorded. Willi composed an opera, Schlafes Bruder, for the Opernhaus Zürich.
Benjamin-Helge Bruns is a German operatic tenor.
Jörg Schneider is an Austrian operatic tenor.
Birke Jasmin Bertelsmeier is a German composer.
Caspar Richter was a German conductor. He worked from 1969 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin where he conducted world premieres of operas such as Wilhelm Dieter Siebert's Untergang der Titanic and Toshiro Mayuzumi's Kinkakuji. He moved to Vienna in 1982, conducting ballets at the Vienna State Opera, and operas and operettas at the Volksoper. He was co-founder and chief conductor of the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien from 1987 for 23 years, focused on the production of new musicals such as Elisabeth and German premieres of popular musicals such as A Chorus Line.