Jan Michael Horstmann

was appointed principal conductor of the Mitteldeutsche Kammerphilharmonie in Schönebeck an der Elbe in 2019. Previously, from August 2012 to July 2017, he had been the director of opera at the LandesbühnenSachsen in Radebeul, where he also served as musical director from 2013 onwards and directed eight new productions. Before that, from 2004 to 2013, he was general music director of the Mittelsächsisches Theater Freiberg/Döbeln and chief conductor of the Mittelsächsische Philharmonie.

Born in Frankfurt am Main in 1968 to a family of dancers and actors, Jan Michael Horstmann is very tuned in to what happens on stage when he is conducting. Since 1992, he has regularly conducted for the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. While still studying with Prof. Klauspeter Seibel at the Hochschule fürMusik und darstellende Kunst Hamburg, he took up a music director position at the Wuppertaler Bühnen. From 1996 to 2004 he was deputy music director at the Theater Magedburg. As guest conductor, he has performed with the orchestra of the Beethovenhalle Bonn, the Philharmonic State Orchestra Kassel, the Hamburger Symphoniker, Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie Chemnitz, Staatskapelle Halle and the Dresden Philharmonic. International guest appearances have taken him to the Teatro Real Madrid, the Edinburgh International Festival (with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra), Holland Festival (with the Radio Chamber Orchestra Hilversum), Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro and the Theatro Nacional Claudio Santoro in Brasilia. In September 2010, Jan Michael Horstmann conducted the season’s opening concert at the Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, in October 2010 a series of performances at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, and in March 2014 a series of performances at the Hong Kong Arts Festival with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. For many years he also conducted the Staatskapelle Halle in the closing concerts of the Handel Festival in Halle’s Galgenbergschlucht.

His repertoire ranges from early music on modern and historical instruments (with Concerto Barocco Dresden and the Ensemble Charpentier, of which he is the founder) to a wealth of new works: Violeta Dinescu (“Effi Briest”, ballet, 1998), Siegfried Matthus (“The Neverending Story”, ballet, 1990), Ulrich Leyendecker (“Hebrew Ballads”, 1994), Oliver Korte (“Wintergesänge” 1991, “Drei Szenen” 2000, “Lichtstück” 2004, “Ephiphany” 2007, “Copernicus” 2015), Susan Oswell (“Tango on the Rocks” 2005), Manfred Schmitz (“Die 13 Monate” 2005), Fernando Morais (“Brasília Episódio Sinfônico” 2005), Alois Bröder (“Vingt Moments” 2005), Thomas König (“Bach- Blüten” 2007), Jason Haney (first symphony, 2008), Benjamin Schweitzer (“Dafne”, world premiere 2009) and many others. Since 2013, he has also been working as a director, creating productions including “Orfeo” (Monteverdi), “Médée” (Charpentier), “Corpernicus” (Korte, world premiere), “Samson et Dalila” and “The Magic Flute”.

Jan Michael Horstmann has created a variety of unusual and innovative concert programmes, combining everything from Bach to Brubeck and Zelenka to Zimmermann. He also regularly performs as a harpsichordist and accompanist for Lieder programmes. Chansons, the ‘poems of the streets’, are his secret passion: He has been delighting audiences with his chanson evenings since 1999.