Günter Neuhold was born in Graz, Austria, in 1947. In 1969 he completed his studies at the Graz Conservatoire with a masters degree. He then followed advanced courses in Rome with Franco Ferrara and in Vienna with Prof. Hans Swarowsky. Between 1972 and 1980 he was engaged at various German opera houses, a period he closed as first Kapellmeister in Hannover and Dortmund.
After winning several competitions (Florence 1st prize 1976; San Remo “Marinuzzi” 1st prize 1976; Vienna “Swarowsky” 2nd prize 1977; Salzburg “Böhm” 1st prize, 1977 Milan, “Cantelli” 3rd prize 1977), he began an international career. From 1981 to 1986 he was Music Director at the Teatro Regio di Parma, where he devoted most of his time to Verdi operas and Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica „Arturo Toscanini“. From 1986 to 1990 he was Chief Conductor and Musical Director of the Koninklijk Filharmonisch Orkest van Vlaanderen in Antwerp, which achieved an international reputation during this period and toured in Germany, Italy, Great Britain and France. Günter Neuhold was General Music Director at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe from 1989 to 1995. In Karlsruhe he performed a Richard-Strauss-Zyklus and the „Ring des Nibelungen“. From 1995 to 2002 he was General Music Director and Artistic Director at the Theater der Freien Hansestadt Bremen. From 2008 to 2014 he was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao. From 2022/23 he is Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra.
Beside his permanent engagements he conducted the following orchestras: Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Staatskapelle Dresden, Philharmonia Orch., Orchestre National de France, WDR Köln, mdr Leipzig, NDR Hamburg und Hannover, SWF Baden Baden, SDR Stuttgart, RSO Berlin, Gürzenich-Köln, HNPO Budapest, ORF, RAI, Orch. Sinf. Naz. Torino, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orch. Teatro Mass. Palermo, Orch. Sinf. Siciliana, La Fenice Venezia, BBC-Cardiff, Capitole Toulouse, Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre Philharmonic de Nice, Orch. Philh. Monte Carlo, RTVE Madrid, Real Orqu. Sinf. de Sevilla, Liceu Barcelona, Orqu. Sinf. de Madrid, Bilbao, San Sebastian, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Granada, Gulbenkian, Malmö S.O., Singapore Symphony, Qatar, Malaysian, Shanghai, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Incheon, Masan, Changwon, Busan, Tokyo Philharmonic, Metropolitan, Yomiuri, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Argentina, Filarmonica Teatro Colón, Córdoba, Orqu. Sinf. de São Paulo, Sinf.Brasileira RJ, Orqu. Sinf.Nacional, OFUNAM Mexico City, Guanajuato, Guadalajara, Radio-TV-Tchaikovksy Moskau, Canadian B.C. Vancouver, Ontario Phil, ABC Australia Melbourne, Auckland Philharmonia. He has conducted operas at the Wiener Staatsoper, Scala Milano, Opernhaus Zürich, Staatsoper Dresden, Nationaltheater München, Berliner Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, Oper Leipzig, State Opera Budapest, Teatro Real Madrid, Opéra Monte Carlo, Chatelet, Opera National de Paris, Teatro Colon Bs.As., Grand Théatre de Genéve, Bordeaux, Capitole Toulouse, Opera Nat. du Rhin Strasbourg, Den Norske Opera Oslo, Göteborgs Operan, Teatro Sao Carlos Lisboa, Opera Roma, Teatro Com. Bologna, La Fenice Venezia, Genova, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Catania, Philadelphia Opera, NNT Tokyo, Tours in USA, Japan and Russia.
Festivals: Salzburger Festspiele 78, 80, 83, 86, 11-1985 Vaticano- Beethoven Missa Solemnis – Eurovision, Festival de Radio France-Montpellier, Vlaanderen Festival, Biennale Venice, Bruckner-Fest St. Florian, Enescu Festival Bucarest 98 Musikfestspiele and Intern.Strauss Festival Dresden,.Colorado Music-Festival 99. Granada Festival 2000, Festival de Santander, Musika-Música Bilbao, Busan MARU.
Masterclasses, Jury President – Member in many competitions.
His Discography contains: Bach-St. Matthew Passion, Bartók-Bluebeard’s Castle, Concerto for Orchestra, Berg-3 Pieces for Orchestra op. 6, Berlioz-La Damnation de Faust, Brahms-Symphony No.1, Bruckner-Symphony No.4, Franck-Symphony in D minor, Kodály-Háry János-Suite, Dances From Galanta, Liszt- Schreker-2. Hungarian Rhapsodie, Liebermann-Concerto for Jazzband etc, Mahler-Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, Marschner-Der Vampyr, Puccini-Madama Butterfly (1904), Rihm-Premiere recordings, Schnittke-Piano Concerto, Schönberg-Gurre-Lieder, Schreker-Kammersinfonie, Schulhoff-Piano Concerto, Jos./Joh. Strauß-Various, Stravinsky-Rite of Spring, Tschaikowsky-Symphony No.5, Verdi-Requiem, Wagner-The Ring, Wolf-Ferrari-La Vita Nuova.
