Sascha Goetzel

Bio

The Viennese conductor Sascha Goetzel has crafted a global reputation as a music director and guest conductor known for his commitment to exploring sound and repertoire through dynamic programs and projects.

Throughout his ten years as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, he has raised the ensemble’s artistic standards and garnered international recognition with multiple tours, as well as appearances at the Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and Vienna’s Musikverein.

Highlights of his 2019-20 season include orchestral appearances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Münchner Symphoniker, Vancouver Symphony, Hawaii Symphony, Sofia Philharmonic, and Romanian Radio Orchestra, as well as productions of Die Zauberflöte with Opernhaus Zürich and Le Nozze di Figaro at the Wiener Staatsoper.

He also appeared with the Mariinsky Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra

Goetzel has worked with soloists including Vadim Repin, Daniel Hope, Yuja Wang, Hillary Hahn, and Branford Marsalis.

Highly regarded as an opera conductor, his 2014 direction of Le Nozze di Figaro at Wiener Staatsoper garnered high praise and regular engagement for productions of Der Rosenkavalier, Don Giovanni, Rigoletto, La Traviata, La Boheme, Die Zauberflöte, and Die Fledermaus. To date he has conducted at Opera Anger-Nantes, Tiroler Landestheater, Opera de Montpelier, Opera de Rennes, Wiener Volksoper, Tokyo Nikkikai Opera Company at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, and led famed singers Renée Fleming, Roberto Alagna, Juan Diego Flores, Thomas Hampson, Bryn Terfel, Piotr Beczala, Bo Skovhus, and Ian Bostridge.

In addition to regularly working with various youth orchestras, Goetzel supports educational projects such as Music for Peace (Turkey) and El Sistema Europe (International).

Recording on Deutsche Grammophon and Onyx labels, Goetzel and the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic have released international award winning albums: Baïka (2018), Turnage & Berlioz (2018), Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto Rococo Variations (2017), Carmen (2016), Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherazade (2014), Music from the Machine Age (2012), and Sascha Goetzel conducts Respighi, Hindemith & Schmitt (2010).

Maestro Goetzel has served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra from 2013-2017. Goetzel has previously held titles with the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne and Kuopio Symphony in Finland.