Biographie

The German conductor Will Humburg commenced his studies under Horst Stein and Christoph von Dohnanyi in his native Hamburg. In the mid-eighties, parallel to engagements with the opera houses of Bremen and Hagen, he received increasing opportunities to guest, and had, within a few years, made a name for himself in innumerable operas and concerts. Some of his initial venues were the Aalto Theatre in Essen , the opera houses of Turin and Lisbon, the Radio Orchestras of Naples and Rome, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, the “Ferrara Musica” Festival, the Orchestra Arturo Toscanini in Parma , and the Orchestra della Toscana in Florenz. As director of the “Laboratorio Lirico” festival of contemporary music in Alessandria (Piemont), he conducted a series of world and national premieres of composers such as Wolfgang Rihm, Siegfried Matthus and Peter Maxwell Davies.

As chief conductor of the Münster Opera Theatre, and the Münster Symphony Orchestra, Will Humburg was in a position to create, between 1992 and 2004, a long series of superb, nationally acclaimed productions. In his very first year he was singled out by the German Union of Music Publishers for the best concert series of that season. Highlights of his work in Muenster include Wagner’s Ring cycle (1999/2001), world premieres of Azio Corghi’s Divara – Wasser und Blut ( 1993) and Sen’ja (2003), as well as critically-acclaimed productions of Le Grand Macabre (Ligeti), Don Carlo, Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

From October 2009 to December 2012 Will Humburg was Music and Artistic Director of the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania.

In the year 2000 Will Humburg, taking over from Giuseppe Sinopoli, conducted concert performances of both Siegfried and Götterdämmerung at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome. Since that time he has been a regular guest at this world theatre. His broad-ranging repertoire of over 80 operas, and his dynamic interpretations, renowned for their stylistic authenticity, have made Will Humburg one of the most sought-after conductors for both concert and opera. Guest venues include: Teatro alla Scala, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Dresden Semperoper, the Hamburg State Opera, the Stuttgart State Theatre, Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Budapest State Theatre, Teatro Sao Carlos, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Teatro Bellini Catania, the Teatro Lirico Cagliari, Teatro Massimo Palermo, the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron), the Academy of St. Cecilia Rome and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In 2002 he toured Japan with the ensemble of the Budapest State Opera, conducting Bizet’s Carmen and made his debut in Spain with a new production of Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.

His greatest successes during the last seasons included new productions of Bellini’s Norma am Staatstheater Saarbrücken, Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer at Teatro Verdi di Trieste and Stravinsky’s Sacre du printemps/ Persephone in Rome. In May 2007 Will Humburg made his debut at the Hamburg State Opera, again with Der fliegende Holländer. He opened the 2007/08 season with the German premiere of Vladimir Deschewow’s opera Ice and steel in Saarbrücken, which was released on DVD on the Arthaus label. During the 2008/09 season Will Humburg conducted Turandot in Hamburg and new productions of von Un ballo in maschera in Bonn, Il barbiere di Siviglia in Saarbrücken, Turandot at the National Theatre in Weimar and Korngold’s Die tote Stadt in Palermo. In 2009 he made his debut at the Cologne Opera conducting Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri, followed by a gala concert in Munich, Janacek’s Kat’a Kabanova in Bonn and Elektra in Catania.

Of particular interest is Will Humburg’s reputation as a leading interpreter of contemporary music. In an artistic collaboration spanning two decades, he and the Italian composer Azio Corghi have produced altogether four operas, including Divara and Tat’jana, the latter having its world premiere at the Teatro alla Scala in 2000. His repertoire also includes the central works of Ligeti, Penderecki, Zimmermann, Nono, Henze, Matthus and Rihm.

Beginning in 1990, Will Humburg has had several successful collaborations with the Naxos recording company, including complete recordings of La Bohème, Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Il Trovatore. His recording of Verdi’s “Falstaff” was chosen by the magazine “Gramophone” as Editor’s Choice of the Month.

His main projects during the season 2010/11 include the new productions of Aida in Cologne and Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Catania. Furthermore he opened the Savonlinna Festival with a new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

During the Season 2011/2012 he could be heard as symphonic conductor first in in Zagreb, where he performed Das Lied von der Erde on September 24 and then in St. Petersburg conducting the St. Petersburg Philharmonicas on October 5.

In October he was back in Catania with Donizetti ’s Le Convenienze ed Inconvenienze Teatrali (Viva la Mamma) and in December he enjoyed a revishing success conducting Franz Schreker's Der ferne Klang at the Bonn Opera House.

After conducting "Lucia de Lammermoor" in Sevilla in March 2012, Will Humburg will be back in Catania for two performances of Honegger's Jean d'Arc au bûcher in April.

Highlights of this season also include Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in July 2012 and his return to the Opera in Cologne in September 2012 with a new production of Verdi’s La Forza del Destino.