About us

In 2020 Titus Engel was named Conductor of the Year by Opernwelt magazine. With his comprehensive view of repertoire from a wide range of musical eras, he consistently grasps works in their diverse interrelationships. The Berlin-based Zurich native recently thrilled audiences with a historically informed Brahms' cycle as well as with Lohengrin at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl and with a monumental production of Messiaen‘s Saint François d'Assise at Stuttgart Opera.

Starting in the 2023/24 season, Titus Engel will take over as Principal Conductor of the Basel Sinfonietta, in his inaugural concert he will lead the Basel Sinfonietta together with the NDR Big Band and the Chorwerk Ruhr at the Ruhrtriennale Festival in September 2023. To open the season, he conducts Tobias Kratzer's new production of Henze's The Raft of the Medusa at the Komische Oper Berlin. He then appears at Theater Basel for the revival of Weber's Der Freischütz (Christoph Marthaler) and at the Grand Théâtre de Genève with Hèctor Parra's new opera Justice.

Guest conducting engagements so far have included the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Philharmonia Orchestra, SWR and WDR Sinfonieorchester, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg as well as Ensemble Modern and Klangforum Wien. He regularly conducts at opera houses in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Lyon, Basel, and Geneva, and has led performances of Berg's Wozzeck, Bartók's Blue Beard's Castle, Strauss's Salome, and Haas's Bluthaus, among others. In 2016 together with Lydia Steier he brought the Swiss premiere of Stockhausen's Donnerstag to the stage at Theater Basel – Opernwelt magazine named the production “Performance of the Year”. The premiere of Chaya Czernowin's opera Infinite Now took place in 2017, which he conducted at the Opera Vlaanderen, the Nationaltheater Mannheim, and the Philharmonie de Paris. He has also led numerous world premieres at the Salzburg Festival, Berliner Festspiele, Lucerne Festival, the Ruhrtriennale, and the Wiener Konzerthaus.

After studying musicology and philosophy in Zurich and Berlin Titus Engel studied conducting in Dresden with Christian Kluttig. He has recorded numerous works for radio and CD and is the founder of the Akademie Musiktheater Heute, in addition to having edited several books on contemporary opera.

Joseph Sieber is Assistant Conductor of the Basel Sinfonietta and Artistic Director of the “Simple Symphony” mediation initiative. The “bridge builder for a new audience for classical music” (Luzerner Zeitung) founded the Central Switzerland Youth Orchestra (ZJSO) and has developed it in the seven years under his direction into one of the most versatile and sought-after youth formations in Switzerland. As a pioneer in the field of promoting young talent and developing innovative orchestral productions, he has won numerous prizes (including the European Music Mediation Prize).

Trained in Switzerland, England and the USA and now living in Paris, the young conductor received the highest honour for his diploma concert with the BBC Philharmonic and was a Conducting Fellow of the Lucerne Festival Academy and the Cabrillo Festival in California. He has worked with renowned orchestras, including the BBC Philharmonic (UK), the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (CH), the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz (DE), the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra (USA), the Plovdiv State Opera Orchestra (BG), the New Sinfonia (WL) and the Argovia Philharmonic (CH). He has also worked as an assistant conductor with orchestras such as the Orchestre National de France (FR) and the Philharmonia Orchestra (UK) as well as for conductors such as Susanna Mälkki, Marin Alsop, Cristian Măcelaru and Domingo Hindoyan.

In the field of opera and musical theatre, Joseph has already been active in his youth as a répétiteur, composer and finally as a conductor. He was able to further deepen his collaboration with singers as a member and assistant of the Swiss Youth Choir and the EuroChoir and eventually assisted full opera productions at the RNCM in Manchester (UK) and ASU in Phoenix (USA). In the field of contemporary music, Joseph has conducted dozens of world premieres over the years and performed with specialised ensembles such as Ensemble ö! (CH) and the Ensemble Modern Academy (DE).

Joseph already attracted attention at a young age and in several disciplines: in addition to acting activities for the Lucerne Theatre or Swiss television, he performed both as a piano soloist and as a conductor at the Lucerne Festival in the KKL concert hall while still a student. His artistic initiatives have made waves beyond Switzerland‘s borders - for example, when the music theatre project “Verona 3000”, which he composed and directed, was nominated for the European Music Education Prize, a recording collaboration between his orchestra and the beatbox vice world champion Steff la Cheffe topped the charts for months and a choreographed Mozart Requiem with the Swiss Youth Choir celebrated success throughout Switzerland. The charismatic speaker gave his first TEDx-talk in 2024 under the title “Dare to be an Artist” and regularly hosts classical concerts and concert introductions.