Michael Sanderling CONDUCTOR Michael Sanderling has been Principal Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonie since 2011. As his contract was extended, this extremely successful example of co-operation between conductor and the orchestra will continue until at least 2019. At the same time, he is a sought-after guest conductor in the world’s greatest music centres and directs renowned orchestras such as the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, Munich Philharmonie Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Germany’s great radio orchestras. Born in Berlin, Michael Sanderling is one of the few who made their way from being orchestra musicians into the top league of conductors. In 1987, aged 20, he became a cello soloist at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Kurt Masur, then from 1994 to 2006 he filled the same position at the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist, he gave guest performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonie Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris, to name but a few, and as a passionate chamber musician he was a member of the Ex Aequo trio for eight years. It was at a rehearsal of the Berlin Chamber Orchestra in 2000 that he stood as conductor for the first time - with thrilling results. Familiär with the work of a conductor from his childhood as the son of legendary Kurt Sanderling, Michael assumed more and more conducting jobs and was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the renowned Kammerakademie Potsdam in 2006. His success as an opera conductor was proven with Philip Glass’ The Fall ofthe House of Usher in Potsdam and with a new production of Prokofiev’s War and Peace at Cologne Opera. As a cellist and conductor he has made CD recordings of important compositions by Dvorak, Schumann, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and many others. Working with young musicians is close to Michael Sanderling’s heart. He is a professor at Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts and works regularly with the Bundesjugendorchester, the Jerusalem Weimar Youth Orchestra, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and with the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra. From 2003 to 2013 he was associated with the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie as its Principal Conductor. His musical horizon encompasses Bach and Handel as well as premieres, of which he has now conducted many, and it is a major aim of his to develop the Dresden Philharmonic’s flexibility of sound and style even further.