Thomas Sanderling (; born October 2, 1942) is a German

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

born in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Life and career

Sanderling was born in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

(

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

). His father was the conductor

Kurt Sanderling Kurt Sanderling, CBE (; 19 September 1912 – 18 September 2011) was a German conductor. Early life and career Sanderling was born in Arys, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (now Orzysz, Poland) to Jewish parents. His early work at the Deuts ...

. His half-brothers are the conductors

Stefan Sanderling Stefan Sanderling (born 2 August 1964 in East Berlin, East Germany) is an orchestral conductor. He is the son of the conductor Kurt Sanderling and the double-bass player Barbara Sanderling. His half-brother is the conductor Thomas Sanderling. H ...

and Michael Sanderling. He began his education by studying

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

at the special school of the

Leningrad Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory () (formerly known as the Petrograd Conservatory and Leningrad Conservatory) is a school of music in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members ...

. In 1960, he began his studies at the

Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

in Berlin. In 1962, after winning a national conducting competition, he made his debut as a

, followed by further studies with Hans Swarowsky. He was assistant to

Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born ''Heribert Adolf Ernst Karajan''; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, ...

and

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

. Sanderling started his career in

Sondershausen Sondershausen () is a town in Thuringia, central Germany, capital of the Kyffhäuserkreis district, situated about 50 km (30 mi) north of Erfurt. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Schernberg was merged with Sondershausen. Until 1918 i ...

and Reichenbach, before being appointed

music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

Halle/Saale Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Magdeburg as well as th ...

in 1966. In 1978, he made his debut at the

Wiener Staatsoper The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

and later at the

Bayerische Staatsoper The Bavarian State Opera () is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bavarian State Orchestra. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

. He served as principal guest conductor at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin from 1978 to 1983. He moved to the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

in 1983. Between 1984 and 1986, he was principal conductor and artistic advisor of the ''Amsterdam Philharmonisch Orkest''. Sanderling has served as principal guest conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra Novosibirsk, and of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia. In 1992, he became music director of the Osaka Symphony Orchestra. He twice won the ''Grand Prix of Osaka'' critics' prize. The orchestra awarded him the title of lifetime music director laureate. In May 2013, Sanderling conducted the world premiere of the last opera by

Mieczysław Weinberg Mieczysław Weinberg (December 8, 1919 – February 26, 1996) was a Polish, Soviet, and Russian composer and pianist. Born in Warsaw to parents who worked in the Yiddish theatre in Poland, his early years were surrounded by music. He taught him ...

, '' Der Idiot'' after the novel by

Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...

, at the

Nationaltheater Mannheim The Mannheim National Theatre () is a theatre and opera company in Mannheim, Germany, with a variety of performance spaces. It was founded in 1779 and is one of the oldest theatres in Germany. History In the 18th century Mannheim was the cap ...

. In July 2017, the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra announced the appointment of Sanderling as its next chief conductor and music director, effective August 2017. Sanderling has a particular relationship with the music of

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

, and to Shostakovich himself. Shostakovich attended Sanderling's Moscow debut, and subsequently asked him to conduct the German first performances of his Symphonies No. 13 and 14. Sanderling also made the first German translation of both symphonies' texts, with the composer's authorisation. Sandering has recorded commercially Shostakovich's ''Michelangelo Suite'', and song cycles for orchestra on

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

References

External links

* *
APA Artists Management agency page on Thomas Sanderling

Thomas Sanderling
Novosibirsk State Philharmonic Society
Thomas Sanderling
Klassik Heute
Roberrt Cummings, 'Artist Biography' of Thomas Sanderling. AllMusic.com page

'Der Dirigent Thomas Sanderling im Gespräch'

Arno Lücker Arno Lücker (born 14 April 1979) is a German composer, musicologist, music critic and music dramaturge. He worked as a journalist in Berlin for press and radio, and as dramaturge at the Konzerthaus Berlin where he installed the series ''2 x hör ...

, VAN blog, 16 November 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanderling, Thomas 1942 births Living people German male conductors (music) 20th-century German conductors (music) German people of Jewish descent Musicians from Novosibirsk 21st-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians 21st-century German male musicians

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...