Johannes Fritzsch
The German-born, Australia-based conductor Johannes Fritzsch who was the Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor from 2008 to 2014 will be Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor to the orchestra until 2023, i.e. when a new Chief Conductor is announced. QSO has been without a Chief Conductor since Alondra de la Parra left the orchestra at the end of 2019 after deciding not to extend her three-year contract.
Fritzsch was born in 1960 in Meissen, near Dresden, Germany, where he completed his musical education.
Since 2018, he has held the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. In 2017, the TSO invited him to design and lead the newly founded Australian Conducting Academy.
In January 2015, he was appointed Adjunct Professor, The Conservatorium of Music, School of Creative Arts and Media at the University of Tasmania, and in June 2019, he joined the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University as Professor of Opera and Orchestral Studies.
Previous appointments include Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Oper Graz, Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester in Austria from 2006 to 2013; Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Staatsoper Nürnberg from 2005 to 2006; and Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Städtische Bühnen and the Philharmonic Orchestra in Freiburg from 1993 to 1999.
