Elena Schwarz
Conductor
Swiss-Australian conductor Elena Schwarz (1985) studied cello and musicology before devoting herself to conducting. Schwarz is a regular guest with orchestras such as the WDR Sinfonieorchester and the BBC Philharmonic. She is an advocate for contemporary music and has conducted world premieres of works by composers such as Peter Eötvös and Georges Aperghis. She regularly collaborates with contemporary music ensembles, including the Ensemble Modern, Musikfabrik, and Klangforum Wien.
After an impressive opera debut in 2019 at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Schwarz conducted Saariaho’s Innocence at the Dutch National Opera. She has previously conducted Hansel & Gretel at the Norwegian Opera, Rusalka at the Opéra de Nice, and Dora at the Staatsoper Stuttgart. Last season she conducted the world premiere of Michel van der Aa’s Theory of Flames, again at the Dutch National Opera.
During the 25/26 season, she made debuts at the SWR Sinfonieorchester, the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, the Hallé Orchestra, the Essener Philharmoniker, and the Residentie Orkest, and returned to the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, and the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest.
