Music Director Designate

Markus Poschner

Since taking over as Chief Conductor of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz in 2017, Markus Poschner and the top Austrian ensemble have enthused audiences and the international press alike. In 2020 he and the Bruckner Orchestra Linz received the Austrian awards “Orchestra of the Year” and “Conductor of the Year”.

Markus Poschner’s recording of the complete Brahms symphonies for Sony Classical with the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, whose Direttore Principale he has been since 2015, featured a completely new reading of these works and promptly won the prestigious International Classical Music Award (ICMA) in 2018. His recording of Offenbach’s Maître Péronilla with the Orchestre National de France was celebrated by the press, also winning the German Record Critics’ Award in 2021.
In 2024, Markus Poschner received Special Achievement Award by the Jury of the International Classical Music Awards for his cycle of the complete Bruckner Symphonies edition with Bruckner Orchestra Linz and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.

From 2027/28 season, Poschner will take over the position as Music Director of Utah Symphony, one of the leading orchestras in the USA. Starting already in 2025/26, Markus Poschner assumes the position of Chief Conductor at the renowned Sinfonieorchester Basel.

Since winning the German Conductors Award, Markus Poschner has made guest appearances at many internationally renowned orchestras and opera houses, including Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin, Staatskapelle Berlin, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Bamberger Symphoniker, Dresdner Philharmonie, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, NHK Tokio as well as being present at Staatsoper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Oper Frankfurt, Wiener Staatsoper as well as Oper Zürich.

After studying in Munich and assisting Sir Roger Norrington and Sir Colin Davis, Markus Poschner worked as 1st Kapellmeister at the Komische Oper Berlin. From 2007 to 2017, he was GMD of the Bremen Philharmonic. In July 2010, the University of Bremen appointed him honorary professor, a title also given to him by Anton Bruckner University Linz in 2020.

Markus Poschner conducted the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra for the first time at its extraordinary guest performance in Abu-Dhabi 2019 with Wagner’s Walküre. In July 2022 he opened the Bayreuth Festival conducting Tristan und Isolde and returned there for the revival of the production in 2023.