Conductor Ingo Metzmacher has distinguished himself through his innovative programming and profound dedication to twentieth and twenty-first century music; to make the new sound familiar and the familiar sound new has been Metzmacher’s focus since the beginning of his career. His 2018-2019 season includes the world premiere of Johannes Maria Staud’s Die Weiden at the Vienna State Opera, new productions of Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in Paris and Enescus OEdipe at the Salzburg Festival, as well as the French premiere of Rihm’s Jakob Lenz at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. He returns to The Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Ensemble Modern, and conducts the National Youth Orchestra of Germany on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. In May 2019, he presents the fourth edition of the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen under his artistic direction. Metzmacher has led productions at many of the great international opera houses including the Berlin and Vienna State Operas, Covent Garden, Teatro Real, La Scala, Opéra de Paris and the Zurich Opera House. Highlights of recent seasons also include new productions of operas by Luigi Nono, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, and Wolfgang Rihm at the Salzburg Festival, as well as the complete cycle of Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen at Théâtre de Genève. He has conducted leading orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Metzmacher was General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera from 1997 until 2005, where he led a series of internationally acclaimed productions, many of them in collaboration with stage director Peter Konwitschny. Subsequently, he was named Chief Conductor of the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam. From 2007 to 2010, he was Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Metzmacher’s wide-ranging discography includes live recordings of his New Year’s Eve concerts in Hamburg from 1999 to 2004 entitled Who’s Afraid of 20th Century Music?, a complete recording of Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s symphonies with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the world premiere of Hans Werner Henze’s Ninth Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic, Olivier Messiaen’s Illuminations of the Beyond… with the Vienna Philharmonic. He is the author of two books: Keine Angst vor neuen Tönen [Don’t Be Afraid of New Sounds] and Vorhang auf! Oper entdecken und erleben [Curtain Up! Discovering and Experiencing Opera].