Vita

The German-Korean conductor Olivia Lee-Gundermann gained international attention with her debut at the Teatro Real Madrid in John Adams’ Nixon in China. She is a prizewinner of the Malta International Conducting Competition and the BMI International Conducting Competition in Bucharest.

Since the 2022/23 season she has served as Associate Conductor (2. Kapellmeisterin) at Theater Dortmund, where she has led new productions including Nixon in China, Gräfin Mariza, Romeo and Juliet, The Pirates of Penzance, the world premiere of Mädchen in Not, as well as Die Zauberflöte and La Bohème. Prior to this, she held posts as répétiteur with conducting duties and later as Kapellmeister at the Landestheater Detmold, where she developed an extensive repertoire across opera, operetta, musical theatre, and ballet.

She has appeared as guest conductor with ensembles such as the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, the Detmold Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestras of Hagen, Kiel and Detmold, the Philharmonie Südwestfalen and the Bergische Symphoniker.

Olivia Lee-Gundermann first studied piano at Suwon University and collaborative piano at the Korea National University of Arts. In 2012 she moved to Germany to pursue orchestral conducting at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, initially with Prof. Karl-Heinz Bloemeke and from 2015 to 2019 with Prof. Florian Ludwig. During her studies she made her conducting debut with Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in the 2014 annual production. In 2015 and 2016 she was awarded a scholarship by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

2025-08-11

Media

Teatro Real: NIXON IN CHINA (Official trailer)

Olivia Lee-Gundermann | Teatro Real

Oper Dortmund | GRÄFIN MARIZ

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