Joseph Bastian will remain in Munich until 2031
The French-Swiss conductor Joseph Bastian has extended his contract as Chief Conductor of the Munich Symphony Orchestra ahead of schedule until 2031.
Joseph Bastian has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Munich Symphony Orchestra since September 2023. He is also Principal Conductor of the Asian Youth Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne. In Besançon, he initiates interdisciplinary collaborations in which he brings neuroscience to the concert stage together with researcher Emmanuel Bigand, for example. His opera conducting engagements include Hansel and Gretel and Luisa Miller at the Lucerne Theater, or Haydn's Il mondo della luna with the Zurich Opera Studio.
Founded in 1945 by Kurt Graunke, the Munich Symphony Orchestra has 60 members of 17 nationalities. From 2014 to 2022, Kevin John Edusei, who was Chief Conductor of the Bern Opera from 2015 to 2019, held the position of Chief Conductor. In the 2022/2023 season, Nodoka Okisawa was Artist in Residence. Joseph Bastian took over the position from the 2023/2024 season.
