Teuscher, Im, Renard, Köninger, Wey, Obst, Henschel, Pantelić, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin & Michael Hofstetter
Biography Teuscher, Im, Renard, Köninger, Wey, Obst, Henschel, Pantelić, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin & Michael Hofstetter
Michael Hofstetter
a well-known conductor for more than 30 years has been invited to perform in many renowned Opera Houses, lead Orchestras and participate in Festivals.
To name only few, he conducted at the Bavarian State Opera, the State Opera Houses in Hamburg and Stuttgart, the Theater Basel, the Theater in Vienna, the Royal Opera Copenhagen, the Welsh National Opera, the English National Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Canadian Opera Company Toronto, both the International Haendel Festivals in Halle as well as in Karlsruhe, the Salzburg Festival, the Orchestre National d’Ile de France and many more.
Native to Munich, his career took off at the theaters and opera houses in Passau and Wiesbaden and in addition he became a much appreciated Professor for Orchestra Conducting and Early Music at the University Mainz.
In the Opera world the Theater Giessen greatly improved its reputation under the guidance of Michael Hofstetter as General Music Director and Prinzipal Conductor (1998-2000 and again from 2012-2019) and put the Ludwigsburg Castle Festivals on the world map (2005-2012). He also made his mark with the Geneva Chamber Orchestra (2000-2006) as well as the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra (2006-2013) and the Grand Orchestra Recreation Graz and was co-founder of the styriarte Festival Orchestra Graz (2010-2016).
Since January 2020 he is both artistic Director as well as managing Director of the International Gluck Festivals Nurenberg, since the season 2021/22 First Guest Conductor of the Tölzer Knabenchor.
The expert Magazine “Opernwelt” holds an annual questioning of critics, by whom the Maestro was nominated serveral times as “Conductor of the Year”, i.e. for his production of Hasse’s Didone Abbandonata at the Prinzregenten Theater as well as for his achievements as General Music Director at the Theater Giessen. For his accomplishments in the Operatic field he was bestowed with the Robert-Stolz-Medal and for his success with the Ludwigsburg Castle Festivals he was honored with the Horst-Stein-Prize.
Michael Hofstetter released numerous recordings with labels such as Oehms Classic, cpo, Orfeo, Deutsche Grammophon, SONY and Virgin Records. The CD “Rossini: Arias and Overtures” was awarded the “Orphee du meilleur interprete” by the Academie du Disque Lyrique France in 2008. The CD “Hasse reloaded” reached the “Best List” in 2012, the CD "A Gentle Tenor" the "Best List"b in 2024, established by the German Record Critics.
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2022. Founded in Berlin in 1982, the ensemble is now one of the world's leading chamber orchestras playing historically informed music.
For four decades, the orchestra has demonstrated its versatility with exciting concert projects, making significant contributions to the rediscovery of the music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann. Thoughtfully, the ensemble has also gradually expanded its core repertoire from the Baroque and Classical periods into the 19th century, most recently with its much-acclaimed cycle "Beethoven's Symphonies and their role models."
Whether in New York or Tokyo, London or Buenos Aires, Akamus is a much sought-after guest on the most important European and international concert stages.
Akamus is a central pillar in the cultural life of its home city of Berlin. For over 35 years, the orchestra has been playing a subscription series at the Konzerthaus Berlin. At the Berlin State Opera, the ensemble has regularly dedicated itself to Baroque opera since 1994. With its own concert series, Akamus has also been a regular guest at Munich's Prinzregententheater since 2012.
Akamus performs under the alternating direction of its two concertmasters, Bernhard Forck and Georg Kallweit, as well as selected conductors. The ensemble has a particularly close and long-standing artistic partnership with René Jacobs. In addition, Emmanuelle Haïm, Bernard Labadie, Paul Agnew, Diego Fasolis, Fabio Biondi, Rinaldo Alessandrini, and Christophe Rousset have recently conducted the orchestra.
Akamus also works regularly with internationally renowned soloists such as Isabelle Faust, Antoine Tamestit, Kit Armstrong, Alexander Melnikov, Anna Prohaska, Michael Volle, and Bejun Mehta. Together with the dance company Sasha Waltz & Guests, they created the internationally successful production of Henry Purcell's Dido & Aeneas, which has been widely performed from Berlin to Sydney. The most fruitful partnership with the RIAS Kammerchor Berlin deserves special mention: the collaboration, which has been equally formative for both ensembles, began 30 years ago. Akamus also maintains a close partnership with the Bavarian Radio Chorus.
The ensemble's recordings have won all the major recording awards, including the Grammy Award, Choc de l'année, and the Annual Prize of the German Record Critics. In 2006, the orchestra received the Telemann Prize of the City of Magdeburg, and in 2014, the Bach Medal of the City of Leipzig.
