Titus Engel
Titus Engel's debut at Teatro Real Madrid with the premiere of Pilar Jurado's La página en blanco in February 2011 was highly praised by the press. The Süddeutsche Zeitung proclaimed it "superb" and La Razón wrote: "The Swiss conductor Titus Engel led the orchestra amazingly. He knew the work back and forth and achieved an excellent reaction from the orchestra."
Born in Zurich in 1975, Titus Engel currently resides in Berlin. After studying musicology and philosophy he began studies in conducting with Christian Kluttig at the Hochschule für Musik Dresden. Sponsorships from the Dirigentenforum of the Deutscher Musikrat (2002 to 2005) and a fellowship with David Zinman's American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Summer Music Festival in 2003 supported his musical career. As assistant to Sylvain Cambreling, Marc Albrecht and Peter Rundel, he acquired a broad orchestral repertoire.
Titus Engel has since conducted numerous renowned orchestras such as the Orchestre de l`Opéra de Paris, the Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, the WDR-Rundfunkorchester, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, the Berner Symphonie Orchester, the Zürcher Kammerorchester and the Basler Kammerorchester. As a guest conductor he regularly works with leading ensembles for contemporary music, such as Ensemble Modern, musikFabrik, Ensemble Recherche and the Collegium Novum Zürich among others. In 2000 he was appointed musical director of courage-Dresdner Ensemble für zeitgenössische Musik, which has become one of the leading young ensembles for contemporary music.
The search for new concert forms and the dramaturgically meaningful fusion of old and new music are central to his career. Besides symphonic repertoire of the 19th and 20th century, he has a deep passion for baroque music performances on historical as well as on modern instruments. The results have been shown in projects such as Affektheischerei at the zeitfenster-Biennale Alter Musik of the Konzerthaus Berlin in 2010, or Im Sog der Klänge, in which choir music of the 17th century is combined with world premieres. The project was performed at the NDR in Hamburg and at Klangspuren Schwaz in 2009 and at the Herrenhäuser Festwochen in Hanover in 2010 among other venues.
He gave his opera debut with a world premiere by Benjamin Schweitzer's Jakob von Gunten at the Dresdner Tage der zeitgenössischen Musik in 2000. Since then he has conducted various new productions (Monteverdi's Orfeo, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Weber's Freischütz) and world premieres (Sergej Newski, Leo Dick, Elena Mendoza, Olga Neuwirth) at the Theater an der Wien, the Ruhrtriennale, the Radialsystem Berlin and the Berliner Festspiele. After the success of Pilar Jurado's La página en blanco, Gerard Mortier has committed him to further productions and concerts at Teatro Real Madrid in the upcoming seasons.
Titus Engel has produced various works for radio, TV and on CD. In cooperation with ZDF-ARTE television he published a number of debut recordings of historical and contemporary silent movie music. He is founder of the Akademie Musiktheater Heute and the Ligerzer Opernwerkstatt as well as editor of several books on today's opera.
www.titus-engel.net
Born in Zurich in 1975, Titus Engel currently resides in Berlin. After studying musicology and philosophy he began studies in conducting with Christian Kluttig at the Hochschule für Musik Dresden. Sponsorships from the Dirigentenforum of the Deutscher Musikrat (2002 to 2005) and a fellowship with David Zinman's American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Summer Music Festival in 2003 supported his musical career. As assistant to Sylvain Cambreling, Marc Albrecht and Peter Rundel, he acquired a broad orchestral repertoire.
Titus Engel has since conducted numerous renowned orchestras such as the Orchestre de l`Opéra de Paris, the Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, the WDR-Rundfunkorchester, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, the Berner Symphonie Orchester, the Zürcher Kammerorchester and the Basler Kammerorchester. As a guest conductor he regularly works with leading ensembles for contemporary music, such as Ensemble Modern, musikFabrik, Ensemble Recherche and the Collegium Novum Zürich among others. In 2000 he was appointed musical director of courage-Dresdner Ensemble für zeitgenössische Musik, which has become one of the leading young ensembles for contemporary music.
The search for new concert forms and the dramaturgically meaningful fusion of old and new music are central to his career. Besides symphonic repertoire of the 19th and 20th century, he has a deep passion for baroque music performances on historical as well as on modern instruments. The results have been shown in projects such as Affektheischerei at the zeitfenster-Biennale Alter Musik of the Konzerthaus Berlin in 2010, or Im Sog der Klänge, in which choir music of the 17th century is combined with world premieres. The project was performed at the NDR in Hamburg and at Klangspuren Schwaz in 2009 and at the Herrenhäuser Festwochen in Hanover in 2010 among other venues.
He gave his opera debut with a world premiere by Benjamin Schweitzer's Jakob von Gunten at the Dresdner Tage der zeitgenössischen Musik in 2000. Since then he has conducted various new productions (Monteverdi's Orfeo, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Weber's Freischütz) and world premieres (Sergej Newski, Leo Dick, Elena Mendoza, Olga Neuwirth) at the Theater an der Wien, the Ruhrtriennale, the Radialsystem Berlin and the Berliner Festspiele. After the success of Pilar Jurado's La página en blanco, Gerard Mortier has committed him to further productions and concerts at Teatro Real Madrid in the upcoming seasons.
Titus Engel has produced various works for radio, TV and on CD. In cooperation with ZDF-ARTE television he published a number of debut recordings of historical and contemporary silent movie music. He is founder of the Akademie Musiktheater Heute and the Ligerzer Opernwerkstatt as well as editor of several books on today's opera.
www.titus-engel.net
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Photo: Detlef Baltrock