Donald Runnicles
Sir Donald Runnicles is the General Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Music Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In 2019, Runnicles also took up post as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s first-ever Principal Guest Conductor. He additionally holds the title of Conductor Emeritus of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, having served as Chief Conductor from 2009-2016. Runnicles enjoys close and enduring relationships with many of the leading opera companies and symphony orchestras, and he is especially celebrated for his interpretations of Romantic and post-Romantic repertoire, which are core to his musical identity.
In the 2021/22 season, highlights at Deutsche Oper Berlin include the premieres of “Götterdämmerung” and “Siegfried” as part of a new Ring Cycle continuing through 2022 and the premiere of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”. Runnicles also returns to the Metropolitan Opera New York to conduct “Elektra” and leads concerts with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Sir Donald Runnicles’ previous posts include Music Director of the San Francisco Opera (1992-2008), during which he led world premieres of John Adams’s “Doctor Atomic”, Conrad Susa’s “Les Liaisons dangereuses”, and the U.S. premiere of Messiaen’s “Saint François d’Assise”, Principal Conductor of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (2001-2007), and General Music Director of the Theater Freiburg and Orchestra (1989-1993).
Mr. Runnicles’ extensive discography includes complete recordings of Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde”, Mozart’s Requiem, Orff’s “Carmina Burana”, Britten’s “Billy Budd”, Humperdinck’s “Hänsel und Gretel”, and Bellini’s “I Capuleti e i Montecchi”. His recording of Wagner arias with Jonas Kaufmann and the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin won the 2013 Gramophone prize for Best Vocal Recording, and his most recent recording of Zemlinksy’s “Der Zwerg” with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin was nominated for a 2020 GRAMMY Award for Best Opera Recording.
Sir Donald Runnicles is born and raised in Edinburgh. He was appointed OBE in 2004 and was made a Knight Bachelor in 2020. He holds honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and was awarded with the Royal Medal of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
As of June 2021
© Simon Pauly
Past Events
Orchester und Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Donald Runnicles, conductor
Benjamin Britten
Berlin-based Orchestras
Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Donald Runnicles, conductor
Works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Hector Berlioz
Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Donald Runnicles, conductor
Works by Bernd Alois Zimmermann and Richard Wagner
Ligeti and Langgaard / Berlin-based orchestras
Orchester und Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Langgaard / Wagner
Berlin-based orchestras / Pelléas et Mélisande
Orchester und Chor der Deutschen Oper
Debussy / Wagner
Brahms / Schumann / Berlin-based orchestras