Ulf Schirmer
When were you first enchanted by musical theatre? And how?
That was when I was twelve years old, watching Hansel and Gretel at the Theater am Goetheplatz in Bremen. I experienced the theatre as a protected space for imagination.
Why do people sing, and why don't they speak?
People who sing offer us a broader and deeper spectrum of spiritual and emotional content than those who speak, and they can transport us musically into this content.
What role can/should musical theatre play in our society?
Musical theatre can enrich our lives, allowing those who hear and see to get in touch with themselves, and in turn with others.
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Born in
Eschenhausen near Bremen (Germany)
Education
Studied at the Bremen Conservatory and at the Hamburg University of Music with György Ligeti, Christoph von Dohnányi and Horst Stein
Important Engagements
- 2011-2022: Director of Oper Leipzig (an General Music Director since 2009/10)
- Die Feen in cooperation with Bayreuther Festspiele, as well as Der Ring des Nibelungen, Ariadne auf Naxos, Elektra, Hänsel und Gretel, Macbeth, Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, West Side Story, Charleys Tante, Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg, Lulu, …
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Engagements with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna and Bamberg Symphony Orchestras, the Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
- Guest Engagements: Bregenz Festival, Salzburg Festival, Vienna State Opera, Graz Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra Bastille in Paris, La Scala in Milan, ...
- 2006-2017: artistic director of the Munich Radio Orchestra
- 1995-1998: Principal conductor of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen
Formative collaboration with these artists
Horst Stein, Lorin Maazel, Hans Neuenfels
Debut at Volksoper Wien
2025/26: Condudctor Hänsel und Gretel
Important prizes and awards
2018: International Classical Music Award for the CD recording of Camille Saint-Saëns' Proserpine
2016: Leipzig Tourism Award in the ‘Personalities’ category
2010: Echo Klassik for the opera recording of Karl Amadeus Hartmann's Des Simplicius Simplicissimus Jugend with the Munich Radio Orchestra
Website
* Use of the photograph (© Hervé Maillet) solely for the purpose of current reporting on the Vienna Volksoper.
