Thomas Sanderling was Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra from Summer 2017 until March 2022.
Born in St. Petersburg, where his father – the eminent conductor Kurt Sanderling – was permanent conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Thomas Sanderling was appointed Music Director of the Halle Opera at the age of 24. By his mid-twenties, Sanderling was already conducting the likes of the Dresden Staatskapelle and Leipzig Gewandhaus, and at the Komische Oper Berlin. His premiere recording of Shostakovich’s Michelangelo Suite directly led to his becoming assistant to both Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein. In the early 1980s, Sanderling became permanent guest conductor of the Deutsche Staatsoper, and made his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper conducting Die Zauberflöte (“A Mozart full of mysteries…Astonishing!”, Wiener Kurier) and Le Nozze di Figaro. He has won many prizes – including an OPUS KLASSIK Award for his recording of Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Thomas Sanderling has conducted many of the world’s finest orchestras and opera companies, including the Baltimore Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, The Hallé, NDR Elphilharmonie, Oslo Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, St Petersburg Philharmonic, WDR Symphony, London Philharmonic and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal; the Deutsche Oper, Bayerische Staatsoper, Hamburg State Opera, Mariinsky Theatre, Finnish National Opera and Teatro La Fenice.
Thomas Sanderling enjoyed a close relationship with Dmitri Shostakovich for many years, and still works in close collaboration with Irina Shostakovich. He originally met the composer whilst making his Moscow debut, conducting the State Orchestra of Russia at the invitation of Evgeny Svetlanov. Greatly impressed, Shostakovich entrusted Sanderling with the translation into German of the texts of his 13th and 14th Symphonies, and he conducted the German premieres of both works. Sanderling also recently conducted the world premiere recordings of the Michelangelo Suite with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for Orfeo, and the orchestral version of the Six Romances on Verses by British Poets with the Helsinki Philharmonic and Gerald Finley for Ondine. He has recorded for many other labels including DGG, Sony Classical, BIS and Chandos.
Recent highlights have included a special concert with the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin on 6 October 2021 to mark the 80th Anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre; an acclaimed recording of Stravinsky and Sibelius for Accentus with the Philharmonia Orchestra; a return to the Osaka Symphony (as Lifetime Music Director Emeritus); and engagements with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Berlin Konzerthausorchester. Spring 2022 sees Sanderling conduct the Dortmunder Philharmoniker, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Saarländisches Staatsorchester, and a special televised Concert for Ukraine with the Zagreb Philharmonic (Verdi Requiem).
