Anja Bihlmaier

Anja Bihlmaier (2018)

Anja Bihlmaier (born October 11, 1978 in Schwäbisch Gmünd ) is a German conductor and designated chief conductor of the Den Haager Residentie Orkest. From 2015 to 2018 she was first conductor and deputy general music director at the Staatstheater Kassel and is currently working as an international freelance conductor.

Life and education

Anja Bihlmaier grew up in Abtsgmünd in Swabia . She received musical support for the first time at the age of 6. At the age of 12 she received violin and piano lessons. Her teachers included u. a. Roland Baldini, Johannes Pfitzer and Volker Stenzl. After graduating from high school, she studied school music with a major in piano with Elza Kolodin at the Freiburg State University of Music , which she graduated in 2003. At the same time, she began studying conducting with Scott Sandmeier (Freiburg State University of Music), which she graduated with in 2006. From 2004 to 2005 she was a fellow in the conducting class of Dennis Russell Davies and Jorge Rotter at the Mozarteum in Salzburg , Austria. As a member of the Conductors' Forum of the German Music Council, Anja Bihlmaier attended master classes with Sian Edwards , Peter Gülke , Günther Herbig , Gunter Kahlert , Kenneth Kiesler, Klauspeter Seibel and Jac van Steen between 2005 and 2008 . She also took master classes with Kirk Trevor and Tsung Yeh. Her mentors include Giordano Bellincampi , Peter Gülke, Karen Kamensek and Antony Hermus. Anja Bihlmaier currently lives in Kassel .

Professional career

From 2006 to 2010 she was engaged as a lecturer with conducting duties at the Coburg Theater, the Görlitz Theater and the TfN-Hildesheim . From 2010 to 2013 Bihlmaier moved to the Chemnitz Theater as 2nd Kapellmeister and assistant to the General Music Director Frank Beermann . From 2013 to 2015 she was 2nd Kapellmeisterin of the State Opera Hanover (under GMD Karen Kamensek ) until she was engaged as 1st Kapellmeisterin and Deputy General Music Director (GMD Patrik Ringborg ) at the Staatstheater Kassel from 2015 to 2018 . Since 2018 she has been working as a freelance conductor worldwide. From summer 2021 she will be chief conductor of the Residentie Orkest in The Hague.

Season 2018/2019

Anja Bihlmaier during the Stockholm Culture Festival 2019. With the Royal Hov Chapel of the Royal Swedish Opera .

In the 2018/2019 season, Anja Bihlmaier will make her debut with the Residentie Orkest (Netherlands), the Royal Opera Stockholm, the Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera (Gounod: FAUST), the NDR Radiophilharmonie , the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra , the Malmö Symphony Orchestra (Sweden ), the Lahti Symphony Orchestra (Finland), the Västerås Sinfonietta (Sweden), the Brandenburger Symphoniker , the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra (Denmark), the Sønderjylland Symphony Orchestra (Denmark), the Sønderjylland Symphony Orchestra ( Denmark), the Östgöta Wind Ensemble (Sweden), the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra (Sweden), the Oulo Symphony Orchestra (Finland), the Norrlands Operans Orchester (Sweden) and the L'Orchestra Teatro Massimo Bellini (Italy).

She has been re-invited to the Vienna Volksoper (revivals Mozart : Die Zauberflöte and Strauss : Die Fledermaus ) to the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (USA), the Odense Symphony Orchestra (Denmark) and the Jönköping Sinfonietta (Sweden).

2017/2018 season

In addition to her work as 1st Kapellmeisterin at the Staatstheater Kassel, Anja Bihlmaier gave a. a. her debuts at the Volksoper Vienna , the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra , the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin , the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken / Kaiserslautern and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. She also made her US debut with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. In summer 2017 she directed the premiere as well as numerous performances of Verdi's “ Rigoletto ” (director: Philippe Arlaud ) at the opera in the stone quarry in Austria . The premiere on July 12, 2017 was recorded by the TV station ORF III , broadcast on July 30, 2017 and was released on DVD.

She has also conducted the Gävle Symphony Orchestra, the Jönköping Sinfonietta, the Wermland Opera Orchestra, the Nordic Chamber Orchestra and the Sønderjylland Symphony Orchestra, the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra , the Turku Symphony Orchestra (Finland), the TfN Orchestra in Hildesheim and the Gothenborg University Orchestra. At the Saarland State Theater she conducted Puccini's " La Bohème " and at the State Theater in Kassel she conducted three symphony concerts as well as the premiere of Nicolai's " The Funny Wives of Windsor ". This premiere was broadcast live by Deutschlandfunk Kultur on October 21, 2017 .

Season 2016/2017

Bihlmaier took over the musical direction of the premieres of Verdi's " Luisa Miller " and Gounod's " Roméo et Juliette " (with live broadcast on Deutschlandfunk Kultur) as well as the programming and direction of several symphony concerts at the Staatstheater Kassel . In addition, she gave u. a. Concerts with the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra , the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, the Bremen Philharmonic and the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra . Bihlmaier conducted the University of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (Sweden), the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra (Finland) and the Odense Symphony Orchestra (Denmark) for the first time. She also returned to the Hanover State Opera with the resumption of Bizet's " Carmen ".

2015/2016 season

In September 2015 Bihlmaier conducted the opening premiere of Dvořák's " Rusalka " (staged by Dietrich W. Hilsdorf ) in Hanover as 2nd Kapellmeister . In the same year she took over the position of 1st Kapellmeisterin at the Staatstheater Kassel and conducted a. A. in June 2016 the premiere of Mozart's " Entführung aus dem Serail " (director: Adriana Altaras ), Bellini's " Norma " and the revival of Tchaikovsky's " Eugene Onegin ", Verdi's " Rigoletto " and Puccini's " La Bohème ". As a guest conductor she worked with the Philharmonie Südwestfalen and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie Herford.

In March 2016, Bihlmaier traveled to China for the first time and conducted the Zheijang Symphony Orchestra Hangzhou there .

In July 2016 she stepped in for the sick Swedish conductor Patrik Ringborg and conducted Mahler's " Das Lied von der Erde " with great success .

2014/2015 season

One of the highlights of the 2014/2015 season as 2nd Kapellmeister at the Hanover State Opera was the premiere of Massenet's " Werther " (May 2015). This production was later awarded the "Best New Production of the 2014-2015 Season" with the touring prize of the Society of Friends of the Hanover Opera House (GFO). In January 2015 she directed Mozart's " Le Nozze di Figaro ". She also conducted the premieres of Tchaikovsky's " Sleeping Beauty ", Grétry's " Zémire et Azor " and revivals of Tchaikovsky's " Eugene Onegin " and Bizet's " Carmen ".

As a guest conductor, she also worked with the North West German Philharmonic Herford , the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra and the Lower Saxony Youth Symphony Orchestra in Hanover .

Awards & grants

2003: 3rd prize at the National Piano Competition, Chemnitz
2003/2004: Scholarship holder of the Chelius Foundation Freiburg
2005–2008: Scholarship holder of the Conductors' Forum of the German Music Council
2006: 3rd prize at the intern. Conducting competition “ Dimitri Mitropoulos ”, Athens
2006: Scholarship holder of the Brahmsgesellschaft Baden-Baden e. V.
2007: Scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Foundation
2008: Invitation to the final of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, London

Web links

Literature by and about Anja Bihlmaier in the bibliographic database WorldCat
Anja Bihlmaier's website: www.anjabihlmaier.de
Biography Anja Bihlmaier ( memento from July 19, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) on: State Opera Hanover
Göttinger Tageblatt of October 31, 2017: " Seductive dance frenzy "
Information from their general management [1] in London
Information from your Northern Europe management " Nordic Artists "
Information in Italian on the website of Leonardo Finotti
Kleine Zeitung (AT) of July 12, 2017: Conductor Anja Bihlmaier: "Every voice needs its speed"
Interview with Anja Bihlmaier on nachrichten.at from July 12, 2017
Volksoper Wien: Information on Anja Bihlmaier

Individual evidence

↑ Bihlmaier becomes chief conductor at Den Haager Residentie Orkest , SWR2.de, accessed on May 13, 2019
↑ "Rigoletto" from the opera in the quarry - tv.ORF.at . In: tv.ORF.at . ( orf.at [accessed on August 23, 2018]).
↑ Conductor Anja Bihlmaier on "The merry women of Windsor" in Kassel. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018 ; accessed on August 23, 2018 (German).
↑ Cheery based on Shakespeare Nicolai's "Funny Women" Live from the Kassel State Theater. In: Deutschlandfunk.de. Retrieved on August 23, 2018 (German).
^ Charles Gounod's opera "Roméo et Juliette" - Intoxicating dreams . In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur . ( deutschlandfunkkultur.de [accessed on 23 August 2018]).

personal data
SURNAME	Bihlmaier, Anja
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German conductor
DATE OF BIRTH	October 11, 1978
PLACE OF BIRTH	Schwäbisch Gmünd

[1] Bihlmaier becomes chief conductor at Den Haager Residentie Orkest , SWR2.de, accessed on May 13, 2019

[2] "Rigoletto" from the opera in the quarry - tv.ORF.at . In: tv.ORF.at . ( orf.at [accessed on August 23, 2018]).

[3] Conductor Anja Bihlmaier on "The merry women of Windsor" in Kassel. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018 ; accessed on August 23, 2018 (German).

[4] Cheery based on Shakespeare Nicolai's "Funny Women" Live from the Kassel State Theater. In: Deutschlandfunk.de. Retrieved on August 23, 2018 (German).

[5] Charles Gounod's opera "Roméo et Juliette" - Intoxicating dreams . In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur . ( deutschlandfunkkultur.de [accessed on 23 August 2018]).