Johannes Klumpp

“It needs a conductor who is able to bridge the gap between genres and eras: Johannes Klumpp (...) eschews historical clichés. In this way, Grieg, Skalkottas, Bartók and Mozart (...) gain a new temperament in their directness, in their terrifically enchanting sound.” (WESTDEUTSCHE ALLGEMEINE)

Born in Stuttgart in 1980, Johannes Klumpp learnt his trade under Prof. Nicolás Pasquet and Prof. Gunter Kahlert in Weimar alongside viola studies and first attracted international attention when he won second prize in the International Conducting Competition in Besançon in 2007. This was followed by further awards at the German conservatoire competition “in memoriam Herbert von Karajan”, in which he won both the first and special prizes, and at the German Conducting Competition in 2011. Masterclasses with renowned conductors such as Kurt Masur, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Michail Jurowski rounded off his artistic training, during which he was a scholarship-holder of the German Music Council’s conductors’ development programme “Maestros of Tomorrow”.    

Johannes Klumpp has cultivated a busy calendar of performances with prominent orchestras including the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Düsseldorf Symphony, Dresdner Philharmonie, WDR Funkhausorchester Köln, Staatsorchester Stuttgart, the Munich, Stuttgart and Nuremberg Symphonies, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra and Kammerakademie Potsdam. His latest release with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and the bassoonist Matthias Rácz with works by Françaix, Tomasi, Jolivet and Villa-Lobos was critically acclaimed.

His appearances in the opera house have also been highly praised, with critics calling him a “conductor-of-singers par excellence.” Most recently, his Figaro at the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck in winter 2016/17 attracted great attention. The conductor feels an especially close connection to the works of Mozart, but since his time as First Kapellmeister of the Musiktheater im Revier Geselkirchen has also developed a wide-ranging theatrical repertoire including works from Handel’s Flavio and Monteverdi’s Lamenti to Verdi’s Aida, Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and Gounod’s Faust.

Johannes Klumpp has worked with the young musicians of the Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen as its chief conductor and artistic director since the 2013/14 season. In this time, he has raised the orchestra’s profile and deepened his focus on the works of Mozart, to whom he has dedicated a whole concert series. Klumpp has also developed innovative programme formats through the “ExtraKlang” series – held at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Zeche Zollverein – collaborating with such well-known German cultural figures as the publicist Roger Willemsen, the actor Rufus Beck and the Oscar-nominated composer and pianist Hauschka.         

Johannes Klumpp also regularly appears in the dual role of conductor and presenter to encourage audiences’ connection with the music. He is convinced that “in this day and age we have to show the way to what we love so much – cross over the threshold.” He also implements this philosophy at the Schloss Hundisburg Summer Music Academy Festival in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, where he was appointed artistic director in 2013. Here, the conductor and his team create outstanding musical experiences in a rural setting, far from cultural centres.

In the current season, Johannes Klumpp will make guest appearances with orchestras including the North-West German Philharmonic, Göttingen Symphony, Hessian State, Münchner Symphoniker and the MDR Symphony.

2017/18 season

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