Sir Donald Runnicles becomes Chief Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra

Briton Sir Donald Runnicles is to become Chief Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra and take up his post at the start of the 2025/2026 season. As the orchestra of the state capital announced on Wednesday, the draft contract will soon be submitted to the city council for approval. Runnicles (69) will lead the Philharmonie as chief conductor designate from the coming season. He will succeed Marek Janowski (84), whose contract in Dresden expired last summer.

Sir Donald Runnicles is an internationally renowned and very experienced chief conductor for the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, explained Dresden's Mayor of Culture Annekatrin Klepsch. Runnicles is just as much in demand at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as he is at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and many other major houses such as those in Vienna, Paris, Milan and London.

"When I joined the Dresden Philharmonic a year ago, I was immediately captivated by the beauty and outstanding sound of the concert hall. And that continued with the orchestra: I encountered excellent musical quality, great trust and a way of playing together that I had hardly experienced anywhere before," the conductor is quoted as saying in a statement from the Philharmonie.