Markus Stenz

Considered one of the leading conductors of our time, Markus Stenz starts his 2025/26 season with a new production of Berg’s Wozzeck alongside symphonic concerts at Teatro La Fenice, where he also conducts Wagner’s Lohengrin in April 2026. Following his performances of Die Walküre and Siegfried with Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, Stenz continues the Ring cycle there this season with Götterdämmerung. He returns to two of his long-standing partners, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as Orchestra of Finnish National Opera and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, amongst many others.

Markus Stenz made his opera debut in 1988 at Teatro La Fenice, where he has since led various highly successful productions, including a new staging of Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer in the 2022/23 season and Kurt Weill’s Der Protagonist in 2025. In 2018, he conducted Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten at Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and the world première of Kurtág’s Fin de partie at Teatro alla Scala and Dutch National Opera. He has appeared at the world’s leading opera houses, including the Opéra National de Paris, English National Opera, and Deutsche Oper Berlin. Last season, Markus Stenz led a new production of Henze’s Der junge Lord at Maggio Musicale di Firenze.

Symphonic highlights of recent years include numerous carefully curated programmes with 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, Naples Philharmonic, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestra della Toscana and NCPA Orchestra Beijing.

Stenz’ extensive discography includes numerous prize-winning recordings, notably the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne’s complete cycle of Gustav Mahler’s symphonies, with Symphony No.5 receiving the German Record Critics’ Award. His recordings of Strauss’s Don Quixote and Till Eulenspiegel were met with unanimous critical acclaim, followed by an equally celebrated recording of Schönberg’s Gurrelieder, released in 2015 and awarded 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.