Joana Mallwitz

»… two distinctly separate worlds, created by the compelling direction of German conductor Joana Mallwitz … Her vibrant interpretation coaxed every ounce of fairy magic from the orchestra …« Bachtrack, review of Mallwitz’s 2023 debut at the Dutch National Opera with Rusalka Exclusive interviews with Joana Mallwitz Watch on STAGE+ »Wise, masterful, loving« – this is how the FAZ described Joana Mallwitz’s interpretation of Mozart’s Così fan tutte in her unanimously acclaimed debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2020. She was the first woman in the renowned festival’s 100-year history to conduct an opera – one of many firsts in her extraordinary career. The attributes chosen by the FAZ could equally apply to Mallwitz’s vision for the future of classical music. Convinced that opera and symphonic music have the potential to move and inspire people from all walks of life, music education is extraordinarily important to her. At the start of the 2023/24 season, Joana Mallwitz became Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. Der Spiegel welcomed her appointment to one of Berlin’s most important cultural institutions, delighting in the »counterpoint to the antiquated image of the maestro.« An image reinforced by her vitality and, not least, by her ability to communicate something about the musical works in her repertoire in an understandable language, with personal warmth and modesty. In this new position – making her the first woman to lead one of Berlin’s major orchestras – Mallwitz has perfected her art at the highest level and succeeded in attracting a new audience. As one of her trademarks, she introduced the »Expedition Concert,« a concept she developed during her years at Theater Erfurt, where she and her musicians offer a vivid introduction to the music the audience will later hear. With a repertoire spanning all eras and genres, Mallwitz regularly works as a guest conductor with major international orchestras: Vienna Philharmonic, Orchestre national de France, Orchestre de Paris, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, and Boston Symphony Orchestra, to name just a few. In recent years, she has conducted critically acclaimed opera productions at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Bavarian State Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Oper Frankfurt, Dutch National Opera, and the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen. In June 2023, Joana Mallwitz signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Her debut with the label will be with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. The Kurt Weill Album will be released in August 2024, featuring Weill’s Symphony No. 1 »Berliner Symphonie,« Symphony No. 2 »Fantaisie symphonique,« and The Seven Deadly Sins. Something entirely different will follow with the second recording, Haydn’s Creation. Future projects will draw on the long and significant history of her new workplace, bringing to life pieces where the worlds of theater and music meet, as well as compositions closely linked to Berlin and her new home. Mallwitz’s engagements with her orchestra in the 2024/25 season include a performance of Nono’s Come una ola de fuerza y luz and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 at the Musikfest Berlin, as well as concerts featuring works by J. S. Bach, Bartók, Beethoven, Lili Boulanger, Cage, Ligeti, and Schubert, among others. Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, and Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 will be presented as »Expedition Concerts.« In addition to her duties at the Konzerthaus, Mallwitz will conduct concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the first time in March 2025. In the same month, she will make her debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera in the revival of Sir Richard Eyre’s production of Le nozze di Figaro. Joana Mallwitz was born in Hildesheim in 1986 and received her first violin lessons at the age of three and her first piano lessons two years later. At 13, she first heard Schubert’s »Unfinished Symphony« and realized she wanted to become a conductor. In the same year, she began her studies at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media in piano (with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling) and conducting (with Eiji Oue). In 2006, she began her work as a répétiteur at Theater Heidelberg and soon made her professional debut when she stepped in at the last minute to conduct Madama Butterfly. From 2007 to 2011, she was second Kapellmeister and assistant to General Music Director Cornelius Meister at this house. In 2014, she took up her first leadership position at Theater Erfurt as Europe’s youngest General Music Director. In 2018, she was appointed General Music Director at the Staatstheater Nürnberg, where over the next five years she raised the artistic level and gained a loyal following, leading the Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg to name her Honorary Conductor in April 2024, a title the orchestra awarded for the first time since its founding in 1922. Opernwelt magazine named Joana Mallwitz »Conductor of the Year« in 2019, she received the Bavarian Constitutional Order in 2022, and the Federal Cross of Merit in 2023. In the laudation for the latter, the conductor was celebrated »for her precise and inspired work on the world’s concert stages« because she represents »the future of classical music.« Joana Mallwitz is also the focus of a feature-length documentary by director Günter Atteln for Accentus Music. The camera followed the conductor for two years, during which Mallwitz performed for the first time in Munich, Paris, Salzburg, and Amsterdam, and she and her husband had their first child. Joana Mallwitz – Momentum, a fascinating, open portrayal of all aspects of her life, premiered at DOK.fest in Munich in May 2024. 7/2024