Peter Rundel is one of the most sought-after partners for leading European orchestras, owing to the depth of his approach to complex music of various styles and epochs as well as to his interpretive creativity.
He is regularly invited to conduct the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the NDR, WDR, and SWR Radio Symphony Orchestras. Recent international guest appearances have included the Helsinki Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orchestra del Teatro dell’Opera Roma, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, as well as to Asia with the Tokyo Metropolitan and Taipei Symphony Ochestras.
Peter Rundel kicks off the 2020/21 season with an invitation to the Musikfest Berlin at the Ensemble Musikfabrik's podium. This season, in addition to projects with orchestras such as the BR Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony, the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto, and the Basel Sinfonietta, he celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Remix Ensemble Casa da Música Porto, which he has been conducting for twenty years. Together they will travel to Hamburg for a guest performance at the Elbphilharmonie. In the spring of 2021, he will also premiere Isabel Mundry's new music theatre piece, Im Dickicht, at the Schwetzinger SWR Festival.
Peter Rundel has conducted the world premieres of opera productions at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera, Wiener Festwochen, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Bregenz Festival, and Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele, while also collaborating with respected directors such as Peter Konwitschny, Philippe Arlaud, Peter Mussbach, Heiner Goebbels, Carlus Padrissa (La Fura dels Baus), and Willy Decker. His work in opera includes traditional repertoire (Die Zauberflöte at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and König Kandaules, Hansel and Gretel and The Marriage of Figaro at the Volksoper Vienna), as well as ground-breaking contemporary music theatre productions such as Stockhausen’s Donnerstag from LICHT, Massacre by Wolfgang Mitterer, the world premieres of Georg Friedrich Haas‘ Nacht and Bluthaus, Isabel Mundry’s Ein Atemzug – die Odyssee, and Emmanuel Nunes’ Das Märchen and La Douce. The spectacular production of Prometheus, which he led at the Ruhrtriennale, was awarded the Carl-Orff-Preis in 2013. In 2016 and 2017, Peter Rundel conducted Louis Andriessen’s De Materie in New York’s Armory Hall and at Teatro Argentino La Plata, a production that he premiered at the Ruhrtriennale in 2014. With the world premiere of Hector Parras's Les Bienveillantes, directed by Calixto Bieito, he gave his first appearance at the Opera Vlaanderen in 2019.
Born in Friedrichshafen, Germany, Peter Rundel studied violin with Igor Ozim and Ramy Shevelov, as well as conducting with Michael Gielen and Peter Eötvös. From 1984 until 1996 he was a violinist in Ensemble Modern, to which he has enjoyed long associations also as a conductor. He also maintains regular guest appearances with Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Collegium Novum Zürich, Ensemble intercontemporain, and the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble. Peter Rundel has been artistic director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders and was the founding artistic director of the Kammerakademie Potsdam. In January 2005, he was appointed artistic director of the Remix Ensemble Casa da Música in Porto and has since enjoyed great success with the contemporary music ensemble at important festivals throughout Europe.
Peter Rundel is also deeply committed to the development and promotion of young musical talent. In Porto he founded the Remix Academy for ensemble musicians and conductors. He regularly teaches at international ensemble academies including the London Sinfonietta, the Ulysseus Ensemble at Manifeste Academy in Paris, the Lucerne Festival Acadamy and at Teatro alla Scala Milan, in addition to leading his own masterclasses on conducting in Bavaria.
Peter Rundel has been awarded many prizes for his recordings of 20th-century music, including the prestigious Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (Nono, Prometeo; Kyburz, Ensemble- und Orchesterwerke; Reich, City Life; Furrer, Piano Concerto), the Grand Prix du Disque (Barraqué, complete work), the Echo Klassik (Sprechgesänge with the Ensemble Musikfabrik) and a Grammy Award nomination (Heiner Goebbels, Surrogate Cities).
2020/21 season
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