Anja Bihlmaier

Conductor

Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest Den Haag
Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra from September 2024
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Contacts

Biography

Anja Bihlmaier’s musical intuition, charisma, and passion allied with precision make her one of the leading conductors of her generation. She has been Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest since August 2021 and was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic starting September 2024.
In 24/25 she conducts the Munich Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie, WDR Cologne, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, Bergen Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, Seattle and Toronto symphonies, Spanish National and Orquesta da Galicia. She returns to the National Symphony in Dublin for Mahler 9 and takes the Residentie Orkest to Bonn for the start of her three-year residency at the Beethovenfest. In June 2025 she will conduct at the Berlin State Opera (new production).

Following her BBC Proms debut in 2023 she returns in 2024, again with the BBC Philharmonic but also bringing Glyndebourne’s production of Carmen after performances at the main festival throughout August. Notable debuts in the past season have included: London Philharmonic, Wiener Symphoniker, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Mahler Chamber, Sydney and Melbourne Symphony orchestras and at the Salzburg Mozartwoche.

Bihlmaier has a wide-ranging repertoire that includes Haydn, Mahler, Strauss, B.A. Zimmermann to Sibelius, Bartók, Dvořák, Shostakovich, Debussy, Britten, Galina Ustvolskaya and Unsuk Chin.
„…This was one of the most unsettling performances of this work that I have heard and it made me hear this symphony in a new light. Even at its most light-hearted, in the third movement, there was “always the feeling that things could spin out of control”, to quote the excellent online notes. And yet there was plenty of fun and high spirits as well, sitting alongside more serious matters but never overwhelmed by them. The playing of the BBC Philharmonic this evening was outstanding.”Peter Connors / Bachtrack.com
Bihlmaier gained many years of experience through positions in Hanover, Chemnitz and Kassel, also guest conducting at the Vienna Volksoper and across Scandinavia, notably in Malmo (Midsummer Night’s Dream), Trondheim (Faust), Tampere (Fliegender Hollaender) and Oslo (La Traviata).

After studying at the Freiburg Hochschule für Musik with Scott Sandmeier, Bihlmaier was awarded a scholarship at the Salzburg Mozarteum and went on to study with Dennis Russell Davies and Jorge Rotter. She was accepted into the Deutsche Dirigentenforum and received a scholarship from the Brahmsgesellschaft Baden-Baden.

2024 / 2025
This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorized by artist management.
Contacts: Arnold Simmenauer, Juliane Scotney

Images

Programme

2026 / 2027

You’ll find the current programs in the IMPRESARIUM of the 26/27 season

2025 / 2026

Schedule

03/05/2025
20:00 h
Anja Bihlmaier, Alexander Melnikov, Konzerthausorchester Berlin
04/05/2025
11:00 h
Anja Bihlmaier, Alexander Melnikov, Konzerthausorchester Berlin
04/05/2025
16:00 h
Anja Bihlmaier, Alexander Melnikov, Konzerthausorchester Berlin
15/05/2025
18:30 h
Sibelius Hall Lahti
Lathi, Finland
Anja Bihlmaier, Nicolas Altstaedt, Sinfonia Lahti
30/05/2025
19:30 h
Anja Bihlmaier, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
19/06/2025
19:30 h
Anja Bihlmaier, Staatskapelle Berlin
22/06/2025
19:30 h
Anja Bihlmaier, Staatskapelle Berlin
25/06/2025
19:30 h
Anja Bihlmaier, Staatskapelle Berlin
03/07/2025
19:30 h
Anja Bihlmaier, Staatskapelle Berlin
11/07/2025
19:30 h
Anja Bihlmaier, Staatskapelle Berlin

Discography

Prokofieff: Sinfonia Concertante

Prokofieff: Sinfonia Concertante op 125 in e-minor

Anja Bihlmaier – Conductor
Christian Poltera – Cello
Lahti Symphony Orchestra

Videos

Schumann: Symphony No. 4 with the hr-Sinfonieorchester
Bruch: Concerto for Violin No. 1 in g-Minor Op.26 at the BBC-Proms
Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 2 with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Contact

Arnold Simmenauer
Managing Director
t: +49 (0)30 414 781 724
Juliane Scotney
Senior Artist Manager
t: +49 (0)30 414 781 715