Conductor
Peter Rundel is one of the most sought-after partners for leading European orchestras, owing to the
depth of his approach to complex music of various styles and epochs as well as his interpretive
creativity.
He is regularly invited to conduct the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, DSO Berlin and the NDR, WDR and
SWR Radio Symphony Orchestras. Recent international guest appearances have included the
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre Philharmonique de
Luxembourg, Brussels Philharmonic, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orchestra del Teatro
dell’Opera Roma, Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. After bringing
Heiner Goebbels’ Surrogate Cities to Taipei this summer for its Asia premiere, he opened the 2018/19
season leading the Klangspuren Schwaz for the festival´s 25th anniversary. Additional invitations as
conductor for the current season include the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the symphony
orchestras of the BR and WDR, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the Tokyo Metropolitan
Symphony Orchestra.
Peter Rundel has conducted the world premieres of opera productions at the Bavarian State Opera,
Wiener Festwochen, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Bregenz Festival and
Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele, while also collaborating with respected directors such as Peter
Konwitschny, Peter Mussbach, Philippe Arlaud, Reinhild Hoffmann, Heiner Goebbels, Carlus Padrissa
(La Fura dels Baus) and Willy Decker. His work in opera includes traditional repertoire (conducting Die
Zauberflöte at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and König Kandaules, Hansel and Gretel and The Marriage
of Figaro at the Volksoper Vienna), as well as groundbreaking contemporary music theatre
productions such as Stockhausen’s Donnerstag from LICHT, Massacre by Wolfgang Mitterer, the
world premieres of Georg Friedrich Haas‘ Nacht and Bluthaus, Isabel Mundry’s Ein Atemzug – die
Odyssee and Emmanuel Nunes’ Das Märchen and La Douce. The spectacular production of
Prometheus, which he led at the Ruhrtriennale, was awarded the Carl-Orff-Preis in 2013. In 2016 and
2017, Peter Rundel conducted Louis Andriessen’s De Materie in New York’s Armory Hall and at
Teatro Argentino La Plata, a production that he premiered at the Ruhrtriennale in 2014. With the world
premiere of Hector Parras’s Les Bienveillantes, directed by Calixto Bieito, he will make his first
appearance at the Opera Vlaanderen in 2019.
Born in Friedrichshafen, Germany, Peter Rundel studied violin with Igor Ozim and Ramy Shevelov, as
well as conducting with Michael Gielen and Peter Eötvös. From 1984 until 1996 he was a violinist in
Ensemble Modern, to which he has enjoyed long associations also as a conductor. He also maintains
regular guest appearances with Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Collegium Novum Zürich,
Ensemble intercontemporain and the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble. Peter Rundel has been artistic
director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders and was the founding artistic director of the
Kammerakademie Potsdam. In January 2005, he was appointed artistic director of the Remix
Ensemble Casa da Música in Porto and has since enjoyed great success with the contemporary music
ensemble at important festivals throughout Europe.
Peter Rundel is also deeply committed to the development and promotion of young musical talent. In
Porto he founded the Remix Academy for ensemble musicians and conductors. He regularly teaches
at international ensemble academies including the London Sinfonietta, the Ulysseus Ensemble at
Manifeste Academy in Paris, the Lucerne Festival Acadamy and at Teatro alla Scala Milan, in addition
to leading his own masterclasses on conducting in Bavaria.
Peter Rundel has been awarded many prizes for his recordings of 20th century music, including the
prestigious Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.
