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Clemens
Schuldt
Conductor
Clemens Schuldt
Music Director Orchestre symphonique de Québec
Clemens
Schuldt, who has made a name for himself particularly thanks to his innovative
programming and his deep repertoire understanding, has been Music Director of
Orchestre Symphonique de Québec since the 2023/24 season. His artistic work is
characterised by the combination of classical and romantic works with
lesser-known repertoire and contemporary music.
Clemens
Schuldt opens the current season in Quebec with a symphonic programme from the
world of opera with pieces from Wagner, Sarasate, Mahler and Strauss. In the
past, he has already set programmatic accents there, placing Mahler, Britten
and Rachmaninoff in exciting contexts with compositions by Jacques Hétu, Anna
Clyne, Keiko Devaux and Katia Makdissi-Warren, as well as curating cross-genre
programmes. He has creatively and innovatively combined orchestral music with
flamenco, worked with indigenous musicians and introduced new concert formats,
such as ‘Concert en Jeans’. Clemens Schuldt also garnered national attention in
Canada with the Beethoven Festival, which was held for the first time under his
direction.
His
collaborations with soloists, such as Augustin Hadelich, Fazıl Say, Bruce
Liu, Nemanja Radulovic and Noa Wildschut have been celebrated by audiences and
critics alike. The 2025/26 season sees this continue with, among others, James
Ehnes, Lise de la Salle, Eldbjørg Hemsing, Nils Wanderer and Julian Steckel.
In
November 2025, he will make his debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic
Orchestra as part of the International Composers Festival. Other guest
engagements this season will take Clemens to Japan with Kanagawa Philharmonic
Orchestra and Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra as well as to Scandinavia where he returns
to Malmö Symphony Orchestra and to the Finnish Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra.
He also continues his longstanding collaboration with the BBC Symphony
Orchestra in London.
Clemens
Schuldt has previously conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic
Orchestra, Staatskapelle Weimar, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, SWR
Symphonieorchester, Münchener Kammerorchester – where he was Chief Conductor –
the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna as well as the Netherlands Philharmonic
Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and Gulbenkian Orchestra,
among others. Outside Europe, Clemens Schuldt has performed with Oregon Symphony
Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra,
Xi’An Symphony Orchestra, and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. He has worked with
soloists, such as Khatia Buniatishvili, Vilde Frang, Håkan Hardenberger, Steven
Isserlis, Igor Levit, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Alisa Weilerstein, Christian
Tetzlaff, Arabella Steinbacher and Daniil Trifonov.
In addition to
symphonic works, Clemens Schuldt devotes himself intensively to opera. In May
2026 he debuts at the Opéra de Québec with Puccini’s “La Bohème”. Most
recently, he conducted Mozart's ‘Così fan tutte’ at Opera North, a highly
acclaimed new production of Mozart's ‘Mitridate, re di Ponto’ with The English
Concert at Garsington Opera, and Mozart's ‘Die Zauberflöte’ at the Badisches
Staatstheater Karlsruhe. At the Staatstheater Mainz, Clemens Schuldt previously
conducted new productions of Bellini’s ‘Norma’, Gluck’s ‘Armide’, Gounod’s
‘Faust’, Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’ as well as productions of Wagner’s ‘The Flying
Dutchman’. In 2019, he made his acclaimed debut at the Venice Biennale
conducting George Benjamin's opera ‘Written on Skin’ with the Orchestra
Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI.
Clemens Schuldt
is a former winner of the prestigious Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in
London and was Assistant Conductor of London Symphony Orchestra for one year.
Born in Bremen, he first studied violin and performed with the
Gürzenich-Orchester Köln and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. He then
completed his conducting studies in Düsseldorf, Vienna, and Weimar. Today, he
is a professor of conducting at the Conservatoire de Québec.
SEASON 2025/26
Latest Recordings
News
Press
"To that please add the conductor, Clemens Schuldt, whose exuberance and affinity with the young musicians made the performance a thing of distinction and emotional impact on a level rarely reached in even the most experienced hands."
Robert Beale, The Arts Desk, June 2026
"It was a return after a long absence for the Orchestre symphonique de Québec (OSQ) at the Festival de Lanaudière on Friday evening. Clemens Schuldt was making his debut there, accompanied by Charles Richard-Hamelin... The program, with its Nordic flair, showcased the fruits of the German conductor’s excellent work at the helm of the orchestra. "
Christophe Huss, Le Devoir, July 2026
"Clemens Schuldt’s presence is a real delight: the orchestra is ever-present and highly active, and the conductor moves seamlessly through the performance, constantly supporting the singers. The OSQ’s sound is rich and admirably cohesive."
Christophe Huss, Le Devoir, May 2026
"Clemens Schuldt was in complete control of his orchestra, delivering a fiery “Tempête” from the “Interludes marins” and a touching “Cygne de Tuonela” (with a subtle Hélène Déry on the English horn)."
Emmanuel Bernier, Le Soleil, April 2026
"And what can we say about his conducting style...he embodies youth, a ray of joy and enchantment through dynamic, different and communicative gestures creating a palpable symbiosis both with the excellent musicians of the OSQ who accompany him in a musical pleasure and especially with his audience."
Gaston Déry, Le Soleil, February 2024
"Clemens Schuldt conducts with assured grace and constant vitality: he looks after his singers and obtains moments of beauty from the orchestra."
Robert Beale, The Art Desk, February 2024
Calendar
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10.10.2026The Orpheum VancouverVancouverLearn more
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16.10.2026Messehalle Frankfurt / OderFrankfurt (Oder)Learn more
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17.10.2026NikolaisaalPotsdamLearn more
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17.10.2026NikolaisaalPotsdamLearn more
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28.10.2026Ishikawa Ongakudo Concert HallKanazawaLearn more
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07.11.2026Grand Théâtre de QuébecQuébecLearn more














