The Swiss conductor will assume the Principal Conductor position of the Basel Sinfonietta starting in the 2023/24 season
Swiss conductor Titus Engel will assume the Principal Conductor position of the Basel Sinfonietta, the only full-sized orchestra for contemporary music in the world, starting in the 2023/24 season.
The choice was made at the beginning of December in a democratically conducted vote among the members of the Basel-based orchestra. He will be succeeding Baldur Brönnimann, who has headed the Basel Sinfonietta since the 2016/17 season as the first Principal Conductor in the orchestra's history.
Titus Engel was named Conductor of the Year by Opernwelt magazine in 2020. With his broad overview of the repertoire spanning a wide range of eras, he invariably understands works in their manifold interconnectedness. He is an advocate of innovative concert formats. Respected for his expertise in the field of historical performance practice as well as for his high-precision conducting of complex contemporary projects, the Berlin-based native of Zurich can also be heard on a regular basis performing mainstay works of opera literature. A close collaboration links him to the Frankfurt Opera, the Stuttgart Opera, the Basel Theater, the Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Opéra de Lyon. Always ready to explore new grounds on the podium in exploring scenic concepts, he considers music theater to be an experimental field on which social utopias can thrive.
Titus Engel: “I am very much looking forward to taking over the position of Principal Conductor from the 2023/24 season and thank the members of the Basel Sinfonietta for their trust. Together with these great musicians, I would like to bring about projects that demonstrate just how engaging and multifaceted the music of our time really is. My goal is to deliver special concerts for a broad audience and, at the same time, to strengthen the Basel Sinfonietta's international profile. I am also very much looking forward to working closely with the composers and the numerous institutions in Basel that are committed to modernism.”
Franziska Németi-Mosimann, President of the Orchestra Board of the Basel Sinfonietta: “Titus Engel as the new Principal Conductor as successor to Baldur Brönnimann is a stroke of luck for the orchestra. The collaborative opportunities we have had to date in past concerts have proven that the chemistry between the orchestra and Titus Engel is excellent. We look forward to benefiting from his wealth of experience in the field of contemporary repertoire and innovative concert formats, which are, after all, the DNA of the Basel Sinfonietta.”
