Michael Hofstetter

Biography

A native of Munich, he began his career at the theaters and opera houses in Passau and Wiesbaden. At the same time, he became a highly respected professor of orchestral conducting and early music at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. From 1998 to 2000 and again from 2012 to 2019, he served as General Music Director and Principal Conductor of Theater Gießen, which significantly increased its international reputation under his leadership. He also played a key role in establishing the international recognition of the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele (2005–2012). He made a lasting impact with the Genfer Kammerorchester (2000–2006), the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester (2006–2013), and the Recreation Orchestra Graz. He was also co-founder of the Festivalorchester Styriarte Graz (2010–2016). His conducting engagements have included the Bayerische Staatsoper München, the Staatsoper Hamburg and Staatsoper Stuttgart, Theater Basel, Theater an der Wien, the Kongelige Opera København, the Welsh National Opera, the English National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, the Canadian Opera Company Toronto, the international Händel-Festspiele Halle and Händel-Festspiele Karlsruhe, the Salzburger Festspiele, the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, and many other renowned artistic institutions. Since January 2020, he has been both Artistic Director and Managing Director of the Internationale Gluck-Festspiele Nürnberg, and since the 2021/22 season he has served as First Guest Conductor of the Tölzer Knabenchor. In the annual critics’ poll of Opernwelt, he was repeatedly nominated as “Conductor of the Year,” notably for his production of Hasse’s Didone abbandonata at the Munich Prinzregententheater and for his work as General Music Director at Theater Gießen. For his achievements in opera, he was awarded the Robert-Stolz-Medaille, and for his successes with the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, he received the Horst-Stein-Preis. He has released numerous recordings with labels such as Oehms Classics, cpo, Orfeo, Deutsche Grammophon, SONY, and Virgin Records. The recording Rossini: Arias and Overtures received the Orphée du meilleur interprète from the Académie du Disque Lyrique France in 2008. The recordings Hasse reloaded (2012) and A Gentle Tenor (2024) were included in the “Best List” compiled by German record critics.