Born in Hanover, Ingo Metzmacher studied piano, music theory, and conducting in his hometown, as well as in Salzburg and Cologne.
Ingo Metzmacher was General Music Director of the Staatsoper Hamburg (1997–2005), Chief Conductor at the Dutch National Opera (2005–07) and Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (2007–10). Since 2016 he has been the Artistic Director of the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen in Hanover.
The 2024/25 season brings Ingo’s fifth tour with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and performances with the Gewandhausorchester, Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE, Wiener Symphoniker, SWR Symphonieorchester, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra. He will lead the world premieres of Francesco Filidei’s Il nome della rosa at Teatro alla Scala and Georg Friedrich Haas’ …heraus in Luft und Licht… with Klangforum Wien, as well as concerts with the Czech Philharmonic and the Czech Philharmonic Youth Orchestra as part of the Dvořák Prague Festival. In May 2025, he will present the tenth and final edition of the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen under his artistic direction.
Highlights of recent seasons include new productions of Rihm’s Die Eroberung von Mexico, Enescu’s Œdipe, Nono’s Intolleranza 1960 and Verdi’s Falstaff at the Salzburger Festspiele, Strauss‘ Salome at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Enescus Œdipe and Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in Paris, Braunfels Die Vögel at the Bayerische Staatsoper and, most recently, Magnard’s Guercœur at the Opéra national du Rhin. Ingo has conducted The Cleveland Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Oslo Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic and Ensemble Modern, among others.
At the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen, Ingo has brought together the NDR Radiophilharmonie and numerous regional choirs to perform Schönberg’s Gurre-Lieder, Berlioz’ Requiem, Mahler’s Symphony No.8 and Bernstein’s Mass, and with the Ensemble Modern the world premiere of Mark Andre’s rwh 1-4.
