Friedrich Praetorius

A young conductor of remarkable natural authority. Not authoritarian, but attentive. He is guided not by rigid patterns, but by breath, space, and time. (...) His interpretation of [Bruckner’s fifth Symphony] revealed what music can become when it does not impose itself but unfolds; when it does not merely play, but speaks. Praetorius is a conductor possessing a profound spiritual compass.  klassiek-centraal.be, 12/08/2025

Exceptional and remarkable - there is no other way to describe the development of the young conductor Friedrich Praetorius. Immediately after completing his studies at the Franz Liszt University of Music Weimar, he was appointed Kapellmeister and assistant to Donald Runnicles at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the 2024/25 season. There he conducts productions such as La Bohème, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Hansel und Gretel, The Magic Flute and Il Barbiere di Siviglia. In the 2025/26 season, performances of Don Carlo, Madame Butterfly and Carmen will be added. To kick off the new season at the Deutsche Oper, Praetorius will conduct a whole series of opening concerts, including excerpts from Turandot.

As a student of Nicolás Pasquet and Ekhart Wycik in Weimar and at the Conservatorio di Milano Giuseppe Verdi with Daniele Agiman, Friedrich Praetorius was already engaged as Kapellmeister at the German National Theatre Weimar and at the Chemnitz Theatre, where he conducted new productions of Der Silbersee, Sleepless and Rigoletto. He has also conducted performances at the State Theatre Coburg, the National Theatre Meiningen and the Conservatorio di Giuseppe Verdi Milano as well as the Musikalische Komödie Leipzig. He has assisted at the Leipzig Opera, where he is conducting Hansel and Gretel this season.

In the current season, he will be working with the Staatskapelle Weimar, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin, Württembergische Philharmonie and Rheinische Philharmonie, further expanding his symphonic repertoire. Practical collaborations have also taken him to the WDR and MDR Symphony Orchestras, the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. 

He is already gaining valuable experience as a festival director: Praetorius has been Artistic Director of the ‘SommerMusikAkademie Schloss Hundisburg’ in Saxony-Anhalt since 2023.

Friedrich Praetorius is a prize winner at the prestigious international German Conducting Award 2025. He has also attracted attention with several first prizes at national and international competitions, including the 10th Competition for Opera Conductors Orvieto (Italy). He is a prizewinner at CAMPUS DIRIGIEREN 2022 and has been supported by the German Music Council's Forum Dirigieren concert funding programme since 2023.

Important impulses for his artistic development came from Marc Albrecht, Christian Thielemann, Johannes Schlaefli, Ole Kristian Ruud, Arthur Fagen and Stefan Blunier.

Born into a family of musicians in Lutherstadt Wittenberg in 1996 and raised in Leipzig from the age of nine, Friedrich Praetorius received his first musical training in the St Thomas Boys' Choir. In addition to singing, piano and cello lessons, this later included conducting lessons, which he was able to put into practice at a very young age in his work with the choir. 
His time with the St Thomas Boys' Choir shaped him as a person and musician: a self-confident, enthusiastic team player with a special understanding of vocal requirements.

Season 2025/26

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