Sascha Goetzel
In June 2007, Viennese born Sascha Goetzel was announced as Principal Conductor of the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, with effect from 2007. He holds this position alongside his existing titles of Music and Artistic Director of the Austrian-Korean Philharmonic, a position he has held since 2004, and Associate Conductor of the Attergau Music Festival.
Having initially trained as a violinist, Goetzel began his career working at close quarters with many of the world’s greatest conductors whilst in the ranks of the Vienna Philharmonic. Goetzel received teaching, coaching and advice from some of the most respected conductors and mentors: Zubin Mehta described him as “highly talented, musically and technically” whilst Riccardo Muti pronounced him “an enthusiastic, extraordinarily talented musician”. He spent time at the prestigious Tanglewood Music Festival at the invitation of Seiji Ozawa (who described him as “a young committed musician who strives for the highest levels of musical excellence”) and at the Sibelius Academy, where he received tuition from the legendary Jorma Panula (who says of him that “his unique personality and most professional attitude make him a convincing but at the same time passionate young conductor”).
His Conducting Fellowship at the Tanglewood Music Festival and Rotary International Scholarship Award enabled him to extend the experience that he had gathered in his native Austria, where he has conducted the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Tonkünstler Orchestra in Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus. In the meantime he has made recent successful debuts with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Symphony, the Luxembourg Philharmonic, the NDR Hannover, the NHK Symphony, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Nagoya Philharmonic and the Deutsche Kammerakademie in a wide spectrum of repertoire, including several world premieres. He made his debuts with the Baltimore and Toronto symphonies conducting Viennese music, repertoire that is absolutely in his blood and which forms a central core to much of his programming. In 2007/8 he will conduct at the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg, at the invitation of Valery Gergiev.
Alongside his symphonic work, Sascha Goetzel has also substantially extended his work in the field of opera, conducting performances at the Vienna State Opera (Pinocchio, Nutcracker), the Vienna Volksoper (Bluebeard, Land of Smiles), as Associate Conductor at the Los Angeles Opera (Nicholas and Alexandra) and at the Tiroler Stadttheater, where he led the recent acclaimed new productions of the three Mozart Da Ponte operas. Soloists with whom he has collaborated include Placido Domingo, José Carreras, Mstislav Rostropovich, Anna Netrebko, Josè Cura, Thomas Hampson, Akiko Suwanai and Rudolf Buchbinder.
Sascha Goetzel has made numerous television and radio broadcasts and has recorded works by Nino Rota and Max Bruch for Koch Classics. Besides his work as a conductor and violinist he is a successful music arranger for various ensembles and artists, such as José Carreras, Ramòn Vargas, the Ensemble Wien and the NTO-Orchestra. Several of his arrangements have been recorded and released by BMG and Deutsche Grammophon.
Promoters please note: if you wish to include this biography in a concert programme etc, please contact Hazard Chase to ensure that you receive the most up to date version.
Email: Sarah Trelawny
