Marc Minkowski
Chef d’orchestre
Marc Minkowski is known for performances whose hallmark is an incredibly refined string sound with the “right amount” of vibrato: “I believe that a conductor must also be a director – a director of sound and advocate for the composer. First you have to understand the dramaturgy of a composition. It is indispensable for the structure of the music and the story told.” He made his debut conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker in April 2003 with works by Jean-Féry Rebel, Georges Bizet and Gabriel Fauré.
Marc Minkowski began his musical career as a bassoonist, including as a member of original sound ensembles such as Les Arts Florissants and La Chapelle Royale. He changed to conducting at an early stage, studying under Charles Bruck at the Pierre Monteux Memorial School in the USA. At the age of 19, he founded the ensemble Les Musiciens du Louvre, which under his direction made a globally recognised contribution to the revival of historically informed performance practice. With this ensemble, Minkowski devotes himself to the repertoire of the French Baroque, the First Viennese School, and also to works of the 19th century, which led him to develop a broad opera repertoire, including Massenet’s [Cendrillon], Verdi’s [Trovatore], Rossini’s [Turco in Italia] and Wagner’s [Der fliegende Holländer]. As a guest conductor, Marc Minkowski regularly appears on the world’s great stages: he has conducted at the Salzburg Festival, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Musikfest Bremen and the festival at Drottningholm Palace Theatre and has led the most prestigious orchestras. Marc Minkowski was artistic director of the Salzburg Mozart Week and was appointed general director of the Opéra National de Bordeaux in 2016. He also founded the Festival Ré Majeure on the Île de Ré on the French Atlantic coast in 2011.
