Cornelius Meister (born 23 February 1980 in

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

, is a German conductor and pianist.

Biography

Meister's father,

Konrad Meister Konrad Meister (30 July 1930 – 27 June 2002) was a German pianist and music educator. Life Born in Heidelberg, Meister was the son of the writer and publisher Hermann Meister (1890-1956) and the pianist Adelheid Meister (1897–1996). He gra ...

, was a pianist and professor of piano at the Musikhochschule Hannover. His mother is also a piano teacher. His half-brother, Rudolf Meister, is also a pianist and is Rector of the ''Musikhochschule Mannheim''. Meister studied piano and conducting at the

Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

. Besides his father, his teachers in Hannover included Martin Brauss and

Eiji Oue is a Japanese conductor. Biography Oue began his conducting studies with Hideo Saito of the Toho Gakuen School of Music. In 1978, Seiji Ozawa invited him to spend the summer studying at the Tanglewood Music Center. There he met Leonard Bern ...

. Meister also studied music at the Salzburg

Mozarteum Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Mo ...

, with such teachers as

Dennis Russell Davies Dennis Russell Davies (born April 16, 1944 in Toledo, Ohio) is an American conductor and pianist, He is currently the music director and chief conductor of the Brno Philharmonic. Biography Davies studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard Sch ...

and Karl Kamper. He was a prize winner at the 1996 Southwest German Chamber Music Competition, a winner of the Radeberger Award and the Audience Award at the 1998

Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival is a classical music festival held each summer throughout the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986 by German concert pianist Justus Frantz. In 2006, the 2 ...

, and a recipient in 2000 of a prize of the

Deutscher Musikwettbewerb The Deutscher Musikwettbewerb (German music competition; ) is a national music competition in Germany for classical soloists and chamber music ensembles held annually by the Deutscher Musikrat (German Music Council). It was first held in 1975 a ...

. From 2001 to 2002, Meister was an assistant conductor at the

Theater Erfurt The Theater Erfurt is a German municipal theatre located in Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. The main stage is in a building in the Brühlervorstadt, completed in 2003. The theatre offers musical theatre and concerts, played by the Philharmonisc ...

. He has also worked as a ''Kapellmeister'' at the Staatsoper Hannover. In September 2005, he became

Generalmusikdirektor A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

of Heidelberg, then the youngest general music director of Germany. In October 2008, he extended his Heidelberg contract through 2012, at which time his Heidelberg tenure concluded. In September 2010, Meister became Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the

Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (German: ''ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien'', or RSO Wien) is the orchestra of the Austrian national broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF). Unlike most other Austrian orchestras, the RSO Wien has a sub ...

(Vienna RSO), with an initial contract of four years. In February 2015, the orchestra announced the extension of his Vienna RSO contract through to 2018. With the Vienna RSO, he has commercially recorded music of

Gottfried von Einem Gottfried von Einem (24 January 1918 – 12 July 1996) was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ. Biog ...

and

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

. Meister concluded his tenure with the Vienna RSO in 2018. In June 2016, Meister was named the next ''Generalmusikdirektor'' (GMD) of the

Stuttgart State Opera The Staatsoper Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Opera) is a German opera company based in Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Staatsorchester Stuttgart serves as its resident orchestra. History Performances of operas, ballet a ...

and of the Stuttgart State Orchestra, effective at the start of the 2018-2019 season, with an initial contract for six seasons. In October 2022, the ''Staatsoper Stuttgart'' and the ''Staatsorchesters Stuttgart'' announced the extension of Meister's contract as GMD through 2026. Outside of Europe, Meister made his US conducting debut with

San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when he ...

in September 2009. He continues to perform chamber music in a clarinet-piano duo with Clemens Trautmann. Married since 2006, Meister and his wife have two sons.

References

External links

Official homepage of Cornelius Meister

Konzertdirektion Schmid English-language agency biography of Cornelius Meister
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meister, Cornelius 1980 births German male conductors (music) Music directors (opera) Living people Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover alumni 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians