Conductor

In recent years, Karsten Januschke has established himself as a distinguished conductor in the international opera and concert scene. His musical work is characterized by expressive conducting technique, a natural authority, and intensive, analytically grounded rehearsal work. At the core of his artistic approach are precise score study, stylistic versatility and collegial, inspiring communication with orchestras, soloists and singers.

In the 2024/25 season, Karsten Januschke opened the season at the Staatstheater Darmstadt with a staged juxtaposition of Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Requiem for a Young Poet and Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel. This was followed by debuts at the Komische Oper Berlin with Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (production: Barry Kosky), a series of Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer at the Prague State Opera and the highly praised new production of Aribert Reimann’s Melusine at the Oper Frankfurt. Previously, he achieved notable regional success at the Tiroler Festspiele with Tchaikovsky’s Mazeppa.

Upcoming projects include, among others, his debut at the Hamburg State Opera, re-invitations to the Prague State Opera, and conducting a concert with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, he will return to the Oper Frankfurt with a revival of Jacques Offenbach’s Die Banditen.

In recent years, Karsten Januschke has appeared at the Semperoper Dresden, the New National Theatre Tokyo, the Bavarian State Opera, the National Theatre and State Opera Prague, the Volksoper Vienna, as part of the Bregenz Festival and at the Opera in the Quarry. As a concert conductor, he has led, among others, the DSO Berlin, the MDR Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Radio Orchestra, the RSO Vienna, the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, the Budapest Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Halle, Ensemble Modern, and the Latvian Festival Orchestra. In 2021, the CD Love and Despair was released on Oehms Classics with the bass Andreas Bauer Kanabas and in 2026 another CD will be released on Oehms Classics with the complete recording of Reimann’s Melusine.

Karsten Januschke received important impulses in his career at the Oper Frankfurt, where from 2008 to 2015 he first worked as a répétiteur and later as Kapellmeister, building a broad repertoire spanning all musical eras. A particular focus is on the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with which he has established himself internationally as a stylistically conscious and energetic interpreter.

Karsten Januschke comes from Schleswig-Holstein and initially studied piano and musicology in Vienna, followed by conducting with Prof. Georg Mark at the Vienna Conservatory, which he completed with distinction. Already during his studies, he was engaged at the Vienna State Opera and at the Bayreuth Festival.