Cornelius Meister

Conductor

“It was impressive with what clarity and strong presence – while still using subtle gestures – Cornelius Meister led the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra when he stepped in for the indisposed Seiji Ozawa.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung, February 20, 2010

In January 2009, Cornelius Meister was announced as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. His post begins with the 2010/11 season. With this orchestra subscription concerts both in the Musikverein and at the Konzerthaus are being planned on a regular basis as well as recordings and tours. He remains Music director of the City of Heidelberg, a post he has held as head of both the Heidelberg Philharmonic and the Opera since the 2005/06 season. He was twice awarded for the best German concert programme and for his educational work with children and young adults.

In recent years Cornelius Meister has made some important international debuts: in Japan he conducted "Fidelio" at the New National Theatre Tokyo in 2006. In autumn 2007, Meister made his Paris debut conducting Strauss’ “Also sprach Zarathustra” with the orchestra of L’Opéra de Paris, resulting in several invitations to return. He made his US symphony debut with the Indianapolis Symphony with Truls Mørk as soloist which also resulted in an immediate re-invitation and his US opera debut at the San Francisco opera in autumn 2009. 

In February 2010 Cornelius Meister returned to the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Future engagements include “Tristan and Isolde” in Copenhagen, a new production of “Die Fledermaus” in Vienna, his debuts with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Swedish Radio Symphony Radio Orchestra as well as a return to the Latvian National Opera, where he will complete Wagner’s “Ring” cycle.

In Germany, Cornelius Meister has been a guest conductor with renowned orchestras such as the Bamberg Symphony, NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Rundfunk-Symphonieorchester Berlin and the Dresden Philharmonic. He made his UK debut with the BBC Philharmonic and has also conducted the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

Born in Hanover in 1980, Cornelius Meister studied piano and conducting at Hanover University for Music and Drama with Konrad Meister, Martin Brauß, and Eiji Oue, and at Salzburg Mozarteum with Dennis Russell Davies and Karl Kamper. For the 2004 Bayreuther Festspiele, he assisted Pierre Boulez for the production of “Parsifal”.

SEASON 2009/2010