Sascha Goetzel | Conductor

Viennese-born Sascha Goetzel’s teacher, the legendary Jorma Panula, said of his student: ‘his unique personality and most professional attitude make him a convincing but at the same time passionate young conductor’. Conviction and passion are indeed his trademarks, as audiences and critics around the world have consistently noted. He is principal conductor of the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, Finland, and artistic director and chief conductor of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra. He has held posts as resident conductor at the Pacific Music Festival, founded by Leonard Bernstein, as music and artistic director of the Austrian-Korean Philharmonic, and associate conductor of the Attergau Institute Orchestra, the training orchestra of the Vienna Philharmonic.

Having initially trained as a violinist, Goetzel began his career working at close quarters with many of the world’s greatest conductors, such as Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti and Seiji Ozawa, who recognised his musicianship and technical excellence. He has conducted the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Tonkünstler Orchestra in his native Austria and made successful debuts abroad with the City of Birmingham Symphony, Berlin Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic, NDR Hannover, NHK Symphony, Shanghai Symphony, Moscow Symphony, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Tokyo and Nagoya 4048_Onyx_Borusan-edited.qxd 8/12/09 16:21 Page 7 p8 Philharmonic Orchestras, Deutsche Kammerakademie and the Basel and Helsingborg Symphony Orchestras in a wide spectrum of repertoire, including several world premieres, and with the Baltimore and Toronto Symphony Orchestras conducting Viennese music in New York, Washington, DC and Baltimore, with instrumentalists such as Rudolf Buchbinder, Olli Mustonen and Vadim Repin. The current season sees debuts in Italy, Holland and Denmark.

Sascha Goetzel is an accomplished opera conductor, and has to his credit performances of Drattell’s Nicholas and Alexandra in Los Angeles, acclaimed new productions of the three Mozart-Da Ponte operas and La bohème at the Tiroler Landestheater, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker at the Vienna State Opera, Lehár’s Land of Smiles to unprecedented critical acclaim at the Vienna Volksoper, Così fan tutte at the Attersee Klassik Festival and Don Giovanni at the legendary Mariinsky Theatre at Valery Gergiev’s invitation. He has worked with world-class singers such as Placido Domingo, José Carreras, Anna Netrebko, José Cura, Thomas Hampson, Michael Schade, Bo Skovhus and Vesselina Kasarova and will soon embark on new productions of Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Volksoper.

Sascha Goetzel has made numerous television and radio broadcasts and has recorded works by Nino Rota and Max Bruch for Koch Classics. He is a successful music arranger for various ensembles and artists, such as José Carreras, Ramón Vargas, the Ensemble Wien and the NTO Orchestra. Several of his arrangements have been recorded and released by BMG and Deutsche Grammophon.

For upcoming concert dates, see links below:
www.saschagoetzel.com