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About
In just a few years, Jonathan Stockhammer has made a name for himself in the worlds of opera, symphonic repertoire, and contemporary music. As a superb communicator, he has a great talent not only for presenting concerts but also for working on an equal footing with a variety of performers – whether they are young musicians and rappers or stars such as Imogen Heap or the Pet Shop Boys.
Opera is central to his work. The operas he has conducted, including Die Dreigroschenoper, Zemlinsky‘s Eine florentinische Tragödie, Sciarrino‘s Luci mie traditrici and Monkey: Journey to the West by Damon Albarn, identify him as a conductor who welcomes and masters the difficulties presented by complex scores and special, interdisciplinary productions. He has been a regular guest at the Opéra de Lyon since first appearing there in 1998, where he has since conducted the successful French premiere of Dusapin’s Faustus, the Last Night. In 2009, he premiered Wolfgang Rihm’s Proserpina with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, and also conducted the orchestra in Rihm’s Deus Passus. In 2010, he conducted the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in a production of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music at the Théâtre du Châtelet Paris. In February 2013, he made his debut at the New York City Opera in Thomas Adès’ Powder Her Face. In the spring of 2016, he made his debut at the Vienna State Opera in a new production of Peter Eötvös‘s Tri Sestri (Three Sisters) and premiered Georg Friedrich Haas‘s new opera KOMA at the Schwetzingen Festival. Most recently, he made his debuts at the Theatre Basel and the Komische Oper Berlin with Philip Glass’ Satyagraha in a production by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.
Jonathan Stockhammer has worked with numerous renowned orchestras such as the Oslo Philharmonic, NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared at the Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival, Donaueschingen Festival, Biennale Venice, the Wiener Festwochen and Wien Modern.
Aside from conducting classical and romantic masterpieces and contemporary classical works, he enjoys delving into music that blurs the boundaries between classical music, rock, pop, and hip-hop. His CD Greggery Peccary & Other Persuasions with Ensemble Modern (RCA, 2003), featuring works by Frank Zappa, won an Echo Klassik Award. He also recorded a new soundtrack to Sergei Eisensteins’s 1925 film The Battleship Potemkin, composed and performed by the Pet Shop Boys. His live recording of The New Crystal Silencewith Chick Corea, Gary Burton and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra won a Grammy in 2009. His collaboration with spoken word artist Saul Williams on Said the Shotgun to the Head, featuring music composed by Thomas Kessler, has also been particularly successful. To date, he has conducted the work with the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic.
Highlights of the 2018/19 season include his debuts with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony in works by Schumann and Boulanger, with the London Sinfonietta as well as at the Zurich Opera in Pelzel’s “Last Call”, and re-invitations to the Philharmonia Orchestra, Deutsche Radiophilharmonie, Ensemble Modern, Collegium Novum Zürich and the Opéra de Lyon in Ravel’s “L’heure espagnole”.
Jonathan Stockhammer first studied Chinese and political science before moving on to studies in composition and conducting in his hometown of Los Angeles. During his studies, he filled in for a series of concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, after which he was asked to become chief conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen’s assistant. After completing his studies, he moved to Germany where he formed close relationships with well-known European ensembles such as Ensemble Modern, Collegium Novum Zürich and Ensemble Resonanz.
