Martin Sieghart is one of the most versatile Austrian artists. In demand worldwide as a conductor, as a teacher and mentor to many internationally successful students, as the founder and artistic director of several festivals, as the long-standing principal cellist of the Wiener Symphoniker, as an organist, accompanist and presenter of his own opera and orchestral performances, which he directs from the piano.

Long term Ties

Sieghart left the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in 1985 to initially work as a freelance conductor.

In 1990, he had the opportunity to take over a concert at short notice with the world-famous ‘Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra’. Due to the great success, he was invited to conduct the orchestra again soon after. And after this second performance, the orchestra chose him to succeed the founder and long-time principal conductor Karl Münchinger.

Shortly afterwards, Sieghart performed Mahler’s 1st Symphony in Linz with the Bruckner Orchestra. The orchestra was also looking for a new director and engaged Sieghart as opera director and principal conductor.

In 2003, as a result of a long-standing friendship with the Gelders Orkest (Arnhem, the Netherlands), Sieghart was appointed artistic director of this ensemble.

Guest Conductor

Among the orchestras Sieghart has conducted are the Philharmonia Orchestra London, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, Het Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, Tschaikowsky Symphony Orchestra Moscow, the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Berlin, Stuttgart, Cologne and Hannover, Het Residentieorkest Den Haag.

In Austria, the Wiener Symphoniker, the Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Vienna Concertverein.

In addition, Sieghart has conducted the symphony orchestras of Malaysia, Macao, Sao Paulo, Santiago de Chile, Tokyo Symphony, Japan Philharmonic, Japan Century Orchestra, Orchesta Filarmonica di Gran Canaria, Orchestra della Toscana, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, the Philharmonic Orchestras of Ljubljana, Zagreb and Belgrade, and many others.

A particular love

Sieghart has a particular love for the music of the Strauss family. He conducted the Johann Strauss Orchestra on its New Year’s tour in Japan for four years; he dedicated concert programmes to these composers with the Wiener Symphoniker, the Philharmonia Orchestra London and his orchestra in Arnhem. He conducted the premiere of ‘Die Fledermaus’ at the Leipzig Opera.

After his time in Stuttgart and Linz came to an end, he expanded his artistic activities and took on a professorship at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. In 2003, he became principal conductor of the Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra and founded his own open-air festival, ‘Mozart in Reinsberg’, dedicated to Mozart’s operatic works.

Special projects

One special task was the position of principal conductor of the chamber orchestra ‘Spirit of Europe’, an international ensemble that recruited its members from over 10 nations. In 2012, together with Susanne Thomasberger and Philipp Harnoncourt, he founded the ‘EntarteOpera’ festival, which set itself the task of bringing back to mind the works of those composers who were defamed as degenerate during the Third Reich. The Israel Chamber Orchestra was invited to perform, with Sieghart as principal guest conductor during those years.

In 2016, Sieghart retired from his professorship in Graz and has since worked as a freelance conductor and teacher worldwide.

Background

Sieghart studied conducting, cello, piano and organ in Vienna, and gained valuable musical experience as principal cellist of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, which was of great help to him later on. It was during this time that he also became intensively involved with church music. He was Regens Chori at the famous University Church in Vienna. As a chamber musician, he played with the ‘Wiener Kammermusiker’, ‘Wiener Instrumentalsolisten’, in the ‘Eurasia-Quartett’ and the ‘Concentus Musicus’ with Nikolaus Harnoncourt. In 1985 he changed from cellist to assistant to the chief conductor G. Rozdetvensky. After standing in for the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, he was appointed principal conductor by the oldest chamber orchestra in Germany, succeeding the legendary Karl Münchinger. In 1992, he also took over the position of principal conductor of the Linz Bruckner Orchestra and the Linz Opera. He has recorded numerous CDs with both orchestras.