Media release. The University Board has appointed Christoph-Mathias Mueller as a lecturer in orchestral conducting. He will assume his position on 1 August 2022 and will spend one year teaching alongside the current incumbent, Johannes Schlaefli. As of 1 August 2023, Mรผller will become the sole director of the conducting programme.
On the recommendation of its search committee, the University Board of ZHdK has appointed Christoph-Mathias Mueller as a lecturer in orchestral conducting. He will assume his position on 1 August 2022. Christoph-Mathias Mueller will succeed Johannes Schlaefli, who has successfully led the conducting programme at ZHdK since 2009 and will retire in August 2023.
Christoph-Mathias Mueller studied the violin in Basel and was awarded his Master of Music at the University of Cincinnati. He has many years of experience as the chief conductor and general music director of renowned orchestras. He has won prestigious ECHO Klassik and OPUS Klassik awards and has been the Artistic Director of the Murten Classics Festival since 2021. In addition to his professional and didactic expertise, Mueller is also committed to the โConductors Studio ZHdKโ that has helped numerous young conductors to make a successful start in their profession.
Conductors Studio ZHdK
ZHdKโs conducting programme enjoys an exceptional international reputation. Many ZHdK students and alumni โ including a striking number of women โ have been extremely successful in this highly competitive market. Johannes Schlaefli and the โConductors Studio ZHdKโ are behind the conducting expertise of ZHdK. Schlaefli set up the Studio and has continuously optimised it over the years. Its learning culture promotes an intensive dialogue among a wide variety of students through curricular activities and different learning formats. The โConductors Studio ZHdKโ trains eight to ten Bachelor and Master students and is notable for its equitable gender balance. The students enjoy tuition on an individual, class and ensemble basis, and there are also courses and concerts with professional orchestras in other countries. They conduct a wide variety of orchestras as well as engaging in collaborations with ensemble, orchestra and opera projects within ZHdK.
A selection of conducting alumni and their current principal positions:
- Mirga Graลพinytฤ-Tyla, Chief Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
- Philippe Bach, General Music Director in Meiningen
- Corinna Niemeyer, Directrice Artistique and Chief Conductor of the Orchestre de Chambre du Luxembourg
- Patrick Lange, General Music Director of the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
- Johanna Malangrรฉ, Chief Conductor of the Orchestre de Picardie
- Leo McFall, Chief Conductor of the Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg
- Zoi Tsokanou, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki State Orchestra
- Kerem Hasan, Chief Conductor of the Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck
- Delyana Lazarova, 1st Prize at the Siemens Hallรฉ International Conductors Competition and assistant at the Hallรฉ Orchestra in Manchester
- Chin-Chao Lin, General Music Director of the Regensburg Theatre
- Holly Hyun Choe, Assistant Conductor of the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra
- Dominic Limburg, Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper Berlin
- Katharina Wincor, Assistant at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
- Johannes Zahn, Kapellmeister at the Staatstheater Darmstadt
To the current interview of Christoph-Mathias Mueller and Johannes Schlaefli on Zett Online