About the orchestra - Deutsche Oper Berlin
Administration
Head of orchestra management Axel Schlicksupp
Orchestra management Julia Lawrenz — Wiebke Fuhrmann-Klemmer — Romana Koch
Librarian Elisabeth Herpin — Philipp Lawton
Bookbinder Ute Wegener
Stage manager Gerriet Ludwig — Dongsu Schick — Sierk Ludwig — Dennis Patalas — Hanns Lupp — Thomas Schenk — Thomas Kohler
Honorary member of the orchestra
Vicco von Bülow (Loriot)
Orchestral Board
Chair Benedikt Leithner
Vice-Chair Kaja Beringer
Further members Margarethe Niebuhr — Juan Pechuan Ramirez
1st Violins
Concertmaster Nathan Giem — N. N.
Associate concertmasters Indira Koch — Elisabeth Glass — Anna Matz
Assistant concertmaster Tina Kim
1st Violins Claudia Schönemann — Dietmar Häring — Piotr Prysiaznik — Martina Klar — Franziska Genetzke — Keiko Kido-Lerch — Darja Jerabek — Yukari Aotani-Riehl — Céline Corbach — Elisa Turri-Tischlinger — Hannah Müller — Magdalena Heinz — André Robles Field — Francesca Temporin
2nd Violins
Principal second violin Monia Rizkallah — Ikki Opitz
Associate principal second violin Daniel Draganov — Sewon Cho
Assistant principal second violin Anne Schinz — Magdalena Makowska
2nd Violins Rainer Döll — Kaja Beringer — Kai Franzke — Ivonne Hermann — Chié Peters — Iris Menzel — Kurara Tsujimoto — Esther Feustel — Gabriele Mollicone — Onyou Kim — Aaron Biebuyck — Peter Fritz — Jae-Shin Song
Violas
Principal viola Andrei Gridchuk — N. N.
Associate principal viola Kirsikka de Leval Jezierski — Kangryun Nam
Assistant principal viola Yi-Te Yang
Violas Irmgard Donderer-Simon — Axel Goerke — Lothar Weiche — Liviu Condriuc — Juan Lucas Aisemberg — Alexander Mey — Sebastian Sokol — Manon Gerhardt — Mariana Vozovik — Seo Hyeun Lee
Celli
Principal cello Arthur Hornig — Arne-Christian Pelz
Associate principal cello Johannes Mirow — Maria Pstrokonska-Mödig
Assistant principal cello Johannes Petersen
Celli Birke Mey — Georg Roither — Ulrike Seifert — Claudio Corbach — Margarethe Niebuhr — Stephan Buchmiller
Double bass
Principal double bass Christoph Langhammer — N. N.
Associate principal double bass Florian Heidenreich
Double bass Bernd Terver — Sebastian Molsen — Martin Schaal — Katri-Maria Leponiemi — Theo J. W. Lee
Flute
Principal flute Eric Kirchhoff — Robert Lerch
Associate principal flute Jochen Hoffmann
Flute Tina Bäcker
Principal piccolo and section flute Akiko Asai — Ruth Pereira-Medina
Oboe
Principal oboe Dina Heidinger-Curfs — Juan Pechuan Ramirez
Associate principal oboe Yijea Han
Oboe Holger Burke
Principal cor anglais and section oboe Iveta Hylasova Bachmannova — Chloé Payot
Clarinet
Principal clarinet Matthias Höfele — Markus Krusche
Associate principal clarinet Leandra Brehm
Clarinet Sophie Pardatscher
Section clarinet and bass clarinet Rainer Greis
Bass clarinet and section clarinet Dieter Velte
Bassoons
Principal bassoon Selim Aykal — Paul-Gregor Straka
Associate principal bassoon Isabella Homann
Bassoon Holger Simon
Section bassoon and contrabassoon N. N.
Principal contrabassoon and section bassoon Vedat Okulmus
Horn
Principal horn Daniel Adam — Pierre Azzuro — Norbert Pförtsch-Eckels
2nd horn David Brox — Luis Miguel Diz
3rd horn Margherita Lulli — Berat Efe Sivritepe
4th horn Hirotatsu Ishikawa — Roland Wußler
Trumpet
Principal trumpet Martin Wagemann — Rudolf Matajsz
Associate principal trumpet Thomas Schleicher
Trumpet Yael Fiuza Souto — Ulrich Riehl — Josa Bambirra Silveira Malich
Trombone
Principal trombone Guntram Halder — Jamie Williams
Associate principal trombone Rúben Tomé
Section trombone and bass trombone Rafael Mósca Mota Da Costa
Bass trombone Thomas Leyendecker
Bass trombone and double bass trombone Thomas Richter
Tuba
Tuba Vikentios Gionanidis — Elias Samuel Rodehorst
Timpani and Percussion
Principal timpani Benedikt Leithner — Kobus Prins
Associate principal timpani and section percussion Ralf Gröling
Principal percussion Björn Matthiessen — Rüdiger Ruppert
Percussion Thomas Döringer — Lukas Zeuner
Harps
Principal harp Virginie Gout-Zschäbitz — Marion Ravot
Over the course of a career spanning 45 years, Sir Donald Runnicles has built his reputation on enduring relationships with major symphonic and operatic institutions. Focusing on depth over breadth, he has held chief artistic leadership positions at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (since 2009), Grand Teton Music Festival (since 2005), San Francisco Opera (1992-2008), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (2009-2016), and Orchestra of St. Luke’s (2001-2007). Sir Donald was also Principal Guest Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for more than two decades (2001-2023), and he is the first ever Principal Guest Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (since 2019). In February 2024, Runnicles was appointed as Chief Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic, which will begin with the 2025/26 season.
Known as a consummate Wagnerian and conductor of German Romantic repertoire, Maestro Runnicles leads the DOB this season in a new production of the Richard Strauss rarity, INTERMEZZO, directed by Tobias Kratzer, as well as revival performances of PARSIFAL and two full cycles of Wagner’s RING DES NIBELUNGEN. At the Metropolitan Opera, he conducted eight performances of the Otto Schenk production of TANNHÄUSER. Other 2023/24 appearances include the Dresden Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, and Utah Symphony, where he led the world premiere of a new concerto written and performed by Sir Stephen Hough.
Mr. Runnicles spends his summers at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson, Wyoming. This eight-week festival of symphonic and chamber music, five of which are programmed, planned, and conducted by Runnicles as music director, takes place amid the breathtaking beauty of Grand Teton National Park. Summer 2024 GTMF festival highlights include a semi-staged THE MAGIC FLUTE, concerts with Augustin Hadelich and Yo-Yo Ma, and two fifth symphonies by Mahler and Vaughan Williams.
Runnicles’ 24/25 season opens with a 70th birthday celebratory concert closing the Edinburgh Festival with Bruckner 9th symphony, after which he opens the Dresden Philharmonic season and then continues to Berlin for a concert with the Deutsche Oper Berlin Orchester as part of the Berlin Festival. Runnicles’ 2024/25 DOB season includes a new production of Richard Strauss’s DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN and revivals of the Zemlinsky one-act opera DER ZWERG (The Dwarf), ARABELLA, INTERMEZZO, TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, and Verdi’s DON CARLO. He returns twice to Sydney Symphony over the course of the season and makes guest appearances in Chicago, Houston, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Cincinnati.
Runnicles tours regularly with the DOB to destinations such as the Edinburgh International Festival, the London Proms, and Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman. He has joined the Philadelphia Orchestra on tours to China, summer residencies at Bravo! Vail Music Festival in Colorado, and annual subscription concerts. A frequent guest conductor with the Chicago Symphony, Runnicles’ performance history dates back to 1997. Over a decade-long relationship with the Vienna State Opera, he led new productions of PARSIFAL, Britten’s BILLY BUDD, and PETER GRIMES, as well as core repertoire pieces.
Mr. Runnicles' extensive discography includes recordings of Wagner’s TRISTAN AND ISOLDE, Mozart’s “Requiem”, Orff’s “Carmina Burana”, Britten’s BILLY BUDD, Humperdinck’s HANSEL AND GRETEL, Bellini’s I CAPULETI E I MONTECCHI, and Aribert Reimann’s L’INVISIBLE. 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 recording of Janáček's JENŮFA with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin was nominated for a 2016 GRAMMY award for Best Opera Recording.
Sir Donald Runnicles was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. 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, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
2012 marked the 100th anniversary of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and with it the opera house’s renowned orchestra. The remarkable history of this orchestra is closely linked to the city’s own tale. When a group of Berliners founded their own opera over a century ago - a house that, dispensing with private boxes and offering unimpeded views of the stage regardless of seat position, was the embodiment of a “democratic” ideal - their act was tantamount to a minor revolution. In the 1920s famous personages such as Wilhelm Furtwängler and Bruno Walter were regular guest conductors at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the first gramophone recordings date back to that period. The opera house fell victim to aerial bombardment in the Second World War and the company spent many years performing at substitute venues before the opera house reopened in 1961 in the Bismarckstraße, its current premises. Since then the Deutsche Oper Berlin has not only been the city’s largest opera venue, with 1860 seats, outstanding acoustics and excellent overall views of the stage, but has also enjoyed a reputation as one of the prime addresses for world opera.
A sparkling array of conductors has graced the orchestra podium, either as guests or as principle conductors. They range from Lorin Maazel and Herbert von Karajan to Giuseppe Sinopoli and Christian Thielemann, the latter serving as General Music Director from 1997 to 2004. Since 2009 the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin has had a principal conductor of international standing in the form of Donald Runnicles. The outstanding collaboration between the orchestra and its principal conductor will continue until the end of the 2025/26 season.
One of the key areas of focus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin concerns the works of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. The orchestra’s Wagner tradition has resulted in many of its musicians performing as members of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. Another major characteristic of the orchestra is its ongoing interest in contemporary music. Numerous composers have worked closely with the orchestra. The most recent example is Helmut Lachenmann, who collaborated intensively in the run-up to performances of his opera, DAS MÄDCHEN MIT DEN SCHWEFELHÖLZERN. In the autumn of 2017 the opera house hosted the premiere of L’INVISIBLE, the fruit of its latest collaboration with Aribert Reimann, who has an extensive record of premieres performed by the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Detlev Glanert's 2019 opera OCEANE won an International Opera Award for "Best Premiere of the Year", and shortly afterwards Chaya Czernowin's HEART CHAMBER received its first performance.
Aside from its opera productions the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin presents leading soloists in its regular symphony concerts both in the Bismarckstraße and at the Berlin Philharmonie. Parallel to this main fare the programme is peppered with concerts performed by a variety of ensembles comprising members of the orchestra – from string quartets to big-band ensembles. The orchestra’s discography extends to almost 200 titles, including numerous outstanding recordings. In its most recent venture into the recording studio the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin provided the accompaniment for tenor Jonas Kaufmann in a Wagner recital. The CD resulted in a shower of awards, including the “Echo Klassik” prize for Jonas Kaufmann. The DVD of Leoš Janáček’s JENUFA, featuring the orchestra and chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin under the baton of Donald Runnicles, was nominated in 2015 for the “Best Opera Recording” Grammy. The recording of Aribert Reimann's L' INVISIBLE was followed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold's THE MIRACLE OF HELIANE and Alexander von Zemlinsky's THE DWARF, also nominated for a Grammy in 2020.
1. Violine tutti
Probespiele am 28. und 29. April 2025
Solo-Bratsche (Sondervertrag)
Probespieltermin wird noch bekanntgegeben
Bratsche tutti 50%
Probespieltermin wird noch bekanntgegeben
Solo-Kontrabass
Probespieltermin wird noch bekanntgegeben
Stellv. Solo-Kontrabass
Probespiel am 18. Februar 2025
Solo-Bassklarinette
mit Verpflichtung zur Klarinette
Probespiele am 2. und 3. Dezember 2024
Fagott 50%
mit Verpflichtung zum Kontrafagott
Probespiele am 14. und 15. Januar 2025
Tiefes Horn (4./ 2.)
mit Verpflichtung zur Wagnertube
Probespieltermine werden noch bekanntgegeben
Die Vergütung erfolgt nach TVK (A/F1) plus HTV-Zulage € 720,00;
Endgrundvergütung nach bestandenem Probejahr.
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Orchesterakademie
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Die Dauer der Ausbildung beträgt 2 Jahre. Das Ausbildungsprogramm enthält: vorbereitenden Instrumentalunterricht bei Mentor*innen aus dem Orchester, Mitwirkung bei 10 Diensten pro Monat (Proben und Vorstellungen / Oper, Ballett und Konzert), Probespieltraining Korrepetitionsstunden, Mentaltraining. Ausbildungsvergütung: € 1.000,00 im Monat (inklusive Stipendium des Förderkreises der Deutschen Oper Berlin e. V.).