Dirk Kaftan was appointed the General Music Director of the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn and Bonn Opera House in the summer of 2017. In addition to numerous concerts during the 2022/2023 season, he will also be conducting Kurt Weill’s opera “Mahagonny” and Franz Schreker’s rarely performed opera “Der singende Teufel” (The Singing Devil). His concerts will see him continue to conduct the successful concert series that have brought him together with artists such as Matthias Brandt and Rafik Schami, and we can also look forward to future projects with guests such as Julia Fischer, Sunnyi Melles, Auma Obama, Selina Ott, Daniel Müller Schott, Alexandre Tharaud and Wladimir Kaminer.
Dirk Kaftan’s repertoire is a broad one and ranges from rapturously received performances of Beethoven’s symphonies to Nono’s “Intolleranza 1960” and “The Merry Widow”, as well as various intercultural projects.
He was the initiator and driving force behind a whole string of projects commemorating the city’s most famous son during the Beethoven Anniversary Year, such as the “Beethoven Lounges”, “Hofkapelle” or “Beethoven Moves!”. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he developed new concert formats, such as “Beethoven Pure”, which allowed Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphonies to be performed in chamber music formations.
Dirk Kaftan is a welcome guest at the world’s renowned concert halls, with recent highlights that include performances with the Royal Danish Orchestra, the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, the Ensemble Modern and a much-acclaimed rendition of “Tristan” at the Hannover State Opera House. He has been responsible for productions at the Vienna Volksoper and the Royal Danish Opera House in Copenhagen, and has also conducted a series of performances in Berlin and Dresden. In 2016, he conducted Miroslav Srnka’s “Make No Noise” at the Bregenz Festival. While rejoicing in his various guest appearances, Dirk Kaftan’s work on his own stage always remains the focus of his commitments. The dedication to his own ensemble, orchestra and choir is a trait that musicians and colleagues alike appreciate in him. This work ethic, borne of the Kapellmeister tradition has accompanied him since his very first appointments, but also in his previous posts as General Music Director in Augsburg and Graz. His work is highly cherished by audiences and critics alike, and his most recent recording of Beethoven’s “Egmont” in 2019, his first with the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, received rave reviews and was awarded the OPUS KLASSIK in 2020. His earlier productions in Graz and Augsburg included, among others, “Der ferne Klang” (The Distant Sound), “Jenůfa” and “The Greek Passion”.
At the beginning of 2021, the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn under Dirk Kaftan was appointed as a “United Nations Climate Change Goodwill Ambassador” by the UN Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC). During the summer of the same year, Dirk Kaftan and his Beethoven Orchestra Bonn were awarded the European Culture Prize.
His credos of “approaching people” and “joining forces” are reflected in the work of the Bonn General Music Director, be it in his interactions with musicians or the audience. In the eyes of Dirk Kaftan, music is an essential part of life; it is an invitation to think and get involved.
