Sascha Goetzel

Conductor
Written By Boudewijn Dekker
Goetzel-BW17-18.jpg

Sascha Goetzel

Conductor

A dynamic, charismatic, and compelling musical presence on the podium, Sascha Goetzel has emerged as a multifaceted conductor—a remarkable orchestra builder, creative programmer, entrepreneur, educator, and advocate for musicians and artists. In September 2022 he started his position as Music Director of the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, a post he takes on for an initial four-year term.

During his eleven-year tenure as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, he significantly raised the artistic profile of the ensemble. His imaginative programming, award-winning recordings, and widely praised tours to the Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms, Royal Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and Hong Kong Arts Festival, transformed a little-known provincial orchestra into a critically acclaimed international ensemble.

Currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Sofia Philharmonic, Goetzel applies his same gifts as an orchestra builder, improving the caliber of the ensemble and burnishing its reputation. Goetzel has appeared a number of prominent orchestras—the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Munich Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, as well as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, and Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna—collaborating with major soloists, among them Daniil Trifonov, Joyce Di Donato, Yuja Wang, Maxim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin, Anna Netrebko, Renee Fleming, Brandon Marsalis, Ian Bostridge, and Murray Perahia, among many others.

In 2014, he made an electric debut at the Vienna State Opera conducting Le Nozze di Figaro, which led to six return engagements—productions of Fledermaus, La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Rigoletto, Magic Flute and Rosenkavalier. Goetzel has also appeared at the Mariinsky Theatre, Zürich Opera House, Tokyo Nikikai Opera Company in Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan, Opéra de Rennes, Wiener Volksoper, Tokyo New National Theatre, and Opéra de Montpellier.

Goetzel and the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra have released several award-winning albums on the Deutsche Grammophon, Onyx, and Warner labels featuring works by Turnage, Tchaikovsky, Berlioz, Bizet, Rimsky-Korsakov, Respighi, Hindemith, and Schmitt.

Committed to music education and an advocate for the arts in general, Goetzel is also Co-Founder and Chief Creative Director of the Vienna Art Network, a new digital platform supporting independent musicians and artists. He is the Artistic Director of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 2022 and 2023. Sascha is the Director and Co-Founder of Opera by the Fjord, an innovative academy and festival for aspiring singers and instrumentalists in partnership with the Bergen National Opera.

Born and raised in Vienna, Goetzel trained as a violinist and began his studies with Richard Österreicher in Austria and Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy. He furthered his education in the United States, working with Seiji Ozawa, Riccardo Muti, Andre Previn, Zubin Mehta, and Bernard Haitink. In addition to attending the Music University in Graz and Brooklyn College, Goetzel was a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival for two summers. His previous posts include Principal Guest Conductor of the Kanagawa Philharmonic (2013-2017) and the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne (2012-2015), as well as Principal Conductor of the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, in Finland (2006-2012).

Highlights 2024-25

5, 6, 7 November 2024:
Beethoven Festival with ONPL - Introduction by Sascha Goetzel on YouTube

29 November 2024:
Concert with Belgrade Philharmonic and Bruno Phillipe

Von WEBER Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65, J. 260

SCHUMANN Cello Concerto in A Minor, op. 129

STRAUSS Also sprach Zarathustra, op. 30

31 December, 1, 6, 7, 8 January 2025
New Year’s concerts with the Tonkünstler-Orchester in Grafenegg, Sankt-Poelten and Vienna

February 2025
In February 2025 Goetzel will conduct Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera

March 2025:
The Flying Dutchman with Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra at Kilden Opera

 
 

Reviews

“Excitement is also conveyed by the image sequence in Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Sheherazade”, that Sascha Goetzel’s theatrically elegant conductor stick doesn’t treat like a hot thriller ready to explode, but rather ensures melodic flexibility and structured contours. Nothing sounds blunt or generalized even during the violent crash of the shipwreck.”
— Nürnberger Zeitung
“The Viennese conductor Sascha Goetzel, who has already been very successful at the Staatsoper, was invited for the first time to the “Konzerthaus” with his Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra and was celebrated by an enthusiastic audience for an exciting, energetic, boldly programmed, sensitive as well as dramatic, musical concert.”
— Kurier
“Goetzel animated the Turkish orchestra to absolute precision. He has raised the artistic level of the orchestra considerably since 2008.”
— Schwäbische Zeitung
“The program was selected for panache, dynamism, dance, and was performed also in that spirit, it downright ignited like a firework. A wonderful advertisement for more unusual choices. The fact that, in music, ecstasy requires the greatest discipline was apparent in every aspect of this orchestra, and it also showed a friendly but decided leading conductor.”
— Frankfurter Rundschau
Boudewijn Dekker
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