Around the Music Festival

On April 21, the Staatstheater Nürnberg presented German conductor Joana Mallwitz, who had served as general music director for five years until last year, with the title of “honorary conductor” for the first time in the theater’s more than 100-year history.

Mallwitz, 38, was born in Hildesheim and became the General Music Director of the Erfurt City Theater in 2014, making headlines as the youngest female General Music Director in Europe.

In 2018, she moved to Nuremberg to become the first female general music director in the theater’s history. In 2019, she was named “Conductor of the Year” by the German opera magazine Opernwelt-Opernwelt. She also signed a recording contract with the “Deutsche Grammophon” label in 2023. She will make her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 2025.

Following her retirement from Nuremberg, she has served as principal conductor and artistic director of the Konzerthaus Orchestra since the 2023/2024 season, becoming the first female conductor to lead a major orchestra in Berlin. In last September, she was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In addition to her activities and achievements during her tenure, the theater also recognized her for founding a youth orchestra. Director Jens-Daniel Herzog, the theater’s artistic director, paid tribute to her for having “the not-so-common talent of being able to involve people in difficult situations and in situations where everyone has to work hard.”

PHOTO：Staatstheater Nürnberg　/　Thomas Heinold