Conductor
In the 2018/19, Michael Sanderling serves in his eight season as Principal Conductor of the Dresden
Philharmonic, which he opens with the 2nd Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven and the world premiere of the 4th Symphony by Fazil Say, commissioned by the Dresdner Philharmonie.
In addition to this permanent position, he is in high demand as a guest conductor, appearing regularly
with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, the Munich Philharmonic, the
Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony
Orchestra and the German Radio Symphony Orchestras of WDR and SWR.
Upcoming debuts include appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow.
With the Dresden Philharmonic, Michael Sanderling regularly undertakes concert tours in Asia, South
America, the U.S.A., Spain, the United Kingdom, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
Under the direction of Michael Sanderling, a recording of all the symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven
and Dmitri Shostakovich is currently being produced in collaboration with SONY Classical. As of now, the first recordings of the cycle – the Symphonies No. 3 and 6 by Beethoven and No. 6 and 10 by
Shostakovich – have been released, marking a new chapter in the discography of the Dresden
Philharmonic.
Born in Berlin, Michael Sanderling is one of the few artists who, after an illustrious career as orchestra
musician and soloist, has been able to achieve a highly successful career on the podium, establishing
himself as one of the world’s most appreciated conductors. In 1987, at the age of 20, he became solo
cellist of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Kurt Masur and, from 1994 to 2006, he held the same
position in the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. As soloist, he appeared with many of the world’s most
esteemed ensembles, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the
Orchestre de Paris. However, it has been a long time since he last performed as a cellist.
Michael Sanderling first graced the conductor’s stand at a concert of the Kammerorchester Berlin in
2000 – and caught fire. Having been familiar with the art of conducting from a young age, as son of the
legendary Kurt Sanderling, Michael Sanderling took on more and more conducting roles, and was named the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Kammerakademie Potsdam in 2006.
As an opera conductor, he enjoyed success with Philip Glass’ “The Fall of the House of Usher” in
Potsdam, and with a new production of Sergei Prokofiev’s “War and Peace” at the Cologne Opera. He
has made many CD recordings of important works by Dvořák, Schumann, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and others, both as cellist and as conductor.
One of Michael Sanderling’s passions is working with young musicians. He teaches at the University of
Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt/Main and regularly works with the Bundesjugendorchester
(National Youth Orchestra of Germany), the Young Philharmonic Orchestra Jerusalem Weimar, the
Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the Schleswig-Holstein-Festivalorchester. From 2003 to 2013, he was
the principal conductor of the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie.
His musical horizons encompass works by Bach and Haendel, to Beethoven and Shostakovich, to world
premieres, of which he has conducted many by now.
