Karsten Januschke

Biography

Originally from Schleswig-Holstein, Karsten Januschke studied piano and musicology and completed his conducting studies with Prof. Georg Mark at the Vienna Conservatoire with honours. During this time he worked at the Vienna State Opera as a solo repetiteur and conductor of children‘s operas, as well as at the Theater an der Wien and later at the Bayreuth Festival, assisting conductors such as Christian Thielemann and Kirill Petrenko. A defining period in Karsten Januschke‘s career was spent at the Frankfurt Opera where he was Kapellmeister. Having had the opportunity to acquire an extensive and broad-ranging repertoire in Frankfurt, he is now concentrating on his guest engagements; he recently made his debuts with the MDR Sinfonie Orchester, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Radio-Symphonie Orchester Wien, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Bremer Philharmoniker and Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern. Opera continues to play a central role in his musical activities and he still enjoys a close connection with the Frankfurt Opera where he is regularly invited to guest conduct. Since 2010 he has conducted works from every era here, from Don Carlos and La traviata, to La bohème, Die Fledermaus and Hänsel und Gretel, contemporary compositions such as Reimann‘s Die Gespenstersonate and Bartók’s Bluebeard.

Mozart‘s works soon emerged as a particular focus and Karsten Januschke‘s spirited and energetic renditions of Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Idomeneo and Die Zauberflöte have confirmed his position as an expert. Within the space of a few years Karsten Januschke has made a name for himself in the field of concerts and opera as a great talent of the younger generation of conductors. Characterised by a natural, friendly authority and an expressive conducting technique his communication with orchestras, soloists and singers is commanding and collegial. The prerequisite for his rehearsals is an in-depth study of the work in hand, and he takes an approach that combines a clear sound concept with great efficiency producing concerts and performances of extraordinary emotion and artistic flexibility.

2019 kicked off with Olga Neuwirth‘s production of Lost Highway in Oper Frankfurt. Following this production, Karsten Januschke led new productions of Don Giovanni debuting at the Tokyo New National Theatre, Fidelio in Bregenz and Die Zauberflöte at the Oper im Steinbruch. He was invited for concerts with the MDR-Sinfonieorchester, Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin and Ensemble Modern. Most recently Karsten Januschke made his debuts at the Bayerische Staatsoper with a new production of Der Diktator/Der zerbrochene Krug, at the Volksoper Wien, Staatstheater Darmstadt, with the DSO Berlin, Norddeutschen Philharmonie Rostock and the Münchner Kammerorchester.