Thomas Sanderling

THOMAS SANDERLING (b. 1942) is recognized as one of the most distinguished conductors of our time. From 2017 to 2022 he served as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he resigned from these positions in protest, and has since continued to share his immense artistry with audiences worldwide. Raised in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad), where his father, the distinguished Kurt Sanderling, conducted the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Thomas Sanderling studied violin and composition at the Conservatory’s Special Music School before continuing at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin. At just 24, he was appointed Music Director of the Halle Opera. By his mid‑twenties he was already conducting leading ensembles such as the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, and the Komische Oper Berlin. His acclaimed recording of Shostakovich’s Suite on Poems by Michelangelo (in its orchestral version) opened the door to collaborations with Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein on several projects. In the early 1980s he became Permanent Guest Conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, while also making his debut at the Vienna State Opera with Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Over the course of his career he has received numerous honors, including the OPUS KLASSIK award for his recordings of Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky with the London Symphony Orchestra. Sanderling has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras and opera houses, among them the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Czech Philharmonic. He has also conducted the symphony orchestras of Dallas, Manchester, Pittsburgh, and Montreal, as well as the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. In Germany he has worked with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. His operatic engagements include the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Bavarian State Opera, the Mariinsky Theatre, the Hamburg State Opera, the Finnish National Opera, and Venice’s Teatro La Fenice. He has recorded extensively for leading labels including Deutsche Grammophon, BIS, and Chandos. His Sony Classical release with the Hallé Orchestra of Manchester — featuring violin concertos by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev with Mayuko Kamio as soloist — was named CD of the Month by several specialist magazines in Tokyo. His interpretation of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic has been recognized as a reference recording in Critical Survey and received an award in Cannes. His complete cycle of Brahms’s symphonies with the London Philharmonic Orchestra earned wide international acclaim. In addition, he has actively championed and recorded works by Albéric Magnard, Karl Weigl, Paul Kletzki, Sergei Taneyev, and others. After his successful debut with the Russian State Orchestra at the invitation of Evgeny Svetlanov, Thomas Sanderling met Dmitri Shostakovich. The composer entrusted him with conducting the German premieres of Symphonies No. 13 and No. 14, with the texts translated into German. Sanderling maintained a close relationship with Shostakovich and continues to work closely with his widow, Irina. At her request, he conducted the world premiere of Six Romances on Poems by English Poets in its original version and first orchestration (Op. 62a), as well as the later second orchestration (Op. 62/140). He also led the Suite on Poems by Michelangelo in the original Italian version with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and bass‑baritone Gerald Finley. The live recording of this performance received high praise and was awarded the Pizzicato Supersonic Award. Sanderling further reconstructed and premiered three previously unknown fragments from The Nose (Op. 15), given to him in manuscript form by Irina Shostakovich. In May 2025 he recorded these works with the Staatskapelle Dresden for the album Shostakovich Discoveries: World Premiere Recordings & Rarities, released by Deutsche Grammophon to mark the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death. Sanderling worked extensively with the Polish composer Mieczysław Weinberg. He conducted the world premieres of Requiem with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and of the opera The Idiot, based on Dostoyevsky, at the National Theatre in Mannheim. He later led its Russian premiere in St. Petersburg and its Austrian premiere at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien. He also introduced German audiences to Weinberg’s Symphonies Nos. 7 and 21. Recent highlights of his career include a commemorative performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 with the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin, marking the 80th anniversary of the tragedy at Babi Yar; recordings of works by Stravinsky and Sibelius with the Philharmonia Orchestra for Accentus, nominated for the 2019 International Classical Music Awards; his return as Permanent Conductor of the Osaka Symphony Orchestra; and engagements with the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the Dortmund Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Halle, among others. In May 2024, Sanderling marked the 200th anniversary of Bruckner’s birth with performances of Symphony No. 7 with the Saarbrücken State Orchestra and the Osaka Symphony Orchestra, and Symphony No. 3 with the Youth Orchestra of Portugal. That same year he was elected Chairman of the Jury of the Mitropoulos International Conducting Competition. In 2025 he conducted works by Shostakovich in Paris, Parma, Zagreb, and Warsaw. On September 14ТХ , 2025, at the Musikverein in Vienna, he presented the world premiere of Fazıl Say’s Concerto for Greek Lyre and Orchestra “Ballad for Ephesus” with soloist Nikos Xantoulis, alongside Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9 with the Thessaloniki State Orchestra. The program is scheduled to be repeated on February 22, 2026, at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Later that month he will make his debut in Poland at the National Opera in Warsaw, conducting a concert of works by Mieczysław Weinberg with the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra. His upcoming engagements in 2026 also include a concert with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra and a tour of China, where he will conduct Shostakovich symphonies in Nanchang, Chengdu, and Hangzhou.