Vita

The conductor Johannes Zurl has been engaged at the Staatstheater Cottbus since 2019, first as Kapellmeister and, since 2020, as First Kapellmeister. In this role, he has conducted a wide range of opera productions and symphonic concerts, shaping the artistic profile of the house. He also works regularly with university orchestras and has directed rehearsals and concerts of the Orchestra of the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover since 2018.

Guest appearances have taken him to leading orchestras and opera houses, including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Badische Staatskapelle, the Bochumer Symphoniker, the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, the Brandenburger Symphoniker, the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck, Theater Magdeburg, Theater Hagen, the Collegium Musicum Basel, the Orquestra Nacional do Porto, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich.

He has collaborated with renowned soloists such as Mojca Erdmann, Ruth Ziesak, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Johannes Moser, Nils Mönkemeyer, and Tabea Zimmermann, and has appeared at major festivals including the Heidelberger Frühling, the Beethovenfest Bonn, the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, and the Aldeburgh Music Festival.

His discography includes a highly acclaimed Hindemith recording with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (cpo), as well as a second release with the Symphoniker Hamburg featuring works by Friedrich Gernsheim. His debut CD for Sony Classical with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Barbara Schöneberger was a great success. He was nominated for the Opus Klassik Award in 2020 and has appeared in the ZDF series Klassik im Club as well as in concert at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie.

Johannes Zurl studied with Karl-Heinz Steffens, Steven Sloane, and Kurt Masur. He was a scholarship holder of the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic and a prizewinner at the International ARD Music Competition in Munich. He also received formative inspiration from masterclasses with Jorma Panula, Bernard Haitink, and David Zinman. Early in his career, he worked as a répétiteur with conductors such as Hans Graf, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Christian Thielemann. In 2014 he was invited by Lorin Maazel as a conducting fellow to the Castleton Festival.

2025-08-11

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