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

Extraordinary and remarkable - there is no other way to describe the rise of the young conductor Friedrich Praetorius. Immediately upon graduating from the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar, he was appointed Conductor and Assistant to Donald Runnicles at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2024. There, he conducted highly successful productions including Hansel and Gretel, The Magic Flute, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, Don Carlo, and Carmen.

Starting with the 2026/27 season, Friedrich Praetorius will take over as the new General Music Director at the Staatstheater Braunschweig, where he will lead numerous opera performances and symphonic concerts. He is set to open the new season with a premiere of Der Freischütz, and will inaugurate the symphonic concert series with Mahler’s Symphony No. 6. Additionally, the 29-year-old conductor will begin a two-season tenure as Permanent Guest Conductor at the Leipzig Opera. His repertoire there will include La Traviata, La Bohème, and Carmen, alongside a new production of O Fortuna, a unique staging that intertwines Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci with Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. For the current season, Friedrich Praetorius has also received a return invitation from the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and will make his debuts with the Bremer Philharmoniker and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO).

Even during his studies under Nicolás Pasquet and Ekhart Wycik in Weimar, as well as with Daniele Agiman at the Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe Verdi di Milano, Praetorius held positions as Conductor (Kapellmeister) at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar and the Theater Chemnitz. He has also conducted performances at the Landestheater Coburg, the Meininger Staatstheater, the Milan Conservatory, and the Musikalische Komödie Leipzig. His practical collaborations already include engagements with the WDR and MDR Symphony Orchestras, the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. He received significant artistic guidance from Marc Albrecht, Christian Thielemann, Johannes Schlaefli, Ole Kristian Ruud, Arthur Fagen, and Stefan Blunier.

Friedrich Praetorius is a laureate of the German Conducting Award 2025. He has also drawn international and national acclaim at several other conducting competitions, winning first prize at the 10th Competition for Opera Conductors in Orvieto, Italy. He was a prize-winner at the 2022 CAMPUS DIRIGIEREN and, since 2023, has been supported by the Forum Dirigieren concert sponsorship program of the German Music Council. He has also gained valuable experience as a festival director: since 2023, Praetorius has served as the Artistic Director of the "SommerMusikAkademie Schloss Hundisburg" in Saxony-Anhalt.

Born into a family of musicians in Lutherstadt Wittenberg in 1996 and raised in Leipzig from the age of nine, Friedrich Praetorius received his formative musical education as a member of the St. Thomas Choir (Thomanerchor). In addition to singing, piano, and cello lessons, his training included conducting instruction, which he was able to apply practically with the choir at a very young age. The Thomanerchor shaped him as both a person and a musician: a confident, inspiring team player with a profound understanding of vocal requirements, who is valued today as a conductor for his broad expressive range, his vivid imagination for tonal colors, and his exceptional musical clarity.

Season 2026/27