Sascha Goetzel

Representation in the Benelux

Contact:
E: leontien.vandervliet@interartists.nl
T: +31 6 5 24 68 707

A dynamic, charismatic, and compelling musical presence on the podium, Sascha Goetzel has emerged as a multifaceted conductor—a remarkable orchestra builder, creative programmer, entrepreneur, educator, and advocate for musicians and artists. He is currently serving as Music Director of the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, a post he has taken on for an initial four-year term beginning in September 2022, as well as Music Director of the Ulsan Philharmonic since March 2025. In addition to these positions, in the 24/25 season Sascha Goetzel was appointed Principal Guest Conductor by the Timisoara Philharmonic in Romania and by the Krakow Philharmonic in Poland.

Former Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, Goetzel contributed significantly to the ensemble during his eleven-season tenure. His imaginative programming, award-winning recordings, and widely praised performances— including tours to the Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms, Royal Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and Hong Kong Arts Festival—are among his notable accomplishments.

Over the last years, Goetzel has been a highly sought-after guest conductor with a number of internationally prominent orchestras like the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre National de France, Yuomiuri Symphony Orchestra, Toyko Metropolitan Orchestra, Munich Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Tonkünstler Orchestra, Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, and Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna—collaborating with major soloists, among them Daniil Trifonov, Rudolf Buchbinder, Joyce Di Donato, Yuja Wang, Nemanja Radulovic, Maxim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin, Fatma Said, Renee Fleming, Anna Netrebko, Bryan Terfel, Brandford Marsalis and Murray Perahia, among many others.

In 2014, he made an electric debut at the Vienna State Opera conducting Le Nozze di Figaro, which led to six return engagements—productions of Fledermaus, La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Rigoletto, Magic Flute and Rosenkavalier. Goetzel has also appeared at the Mariinsky Theatre, Zürich Opera House, Tokyo Metropolitan Opera, Tokyo Nikikai Opera Company in Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan, Opéra de Nantes-Angers, Opera de Rennes, Wiener Volksoper and Opéra de Montpellier. Recently, in the 23/24 season, Goetzel had great successes with the productions of Berlioz’s Beatrice et Benedicte in Angers, Nantes and Rennes, as well as with Orpheus et Euridice with the Reiseopera in the Netherlands. In the 24/25 season, he led Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman in Trondheim and Kristiansand.

Goetzel has released several Award winning CDs in both, orchestral and as partner for Solo concerti/Arias including winning albums on the Deutsche Grammophon, WARNER, Onyx and Naïve labels featuring works by Hindemith, Bartok, Schulhoff, Berlioz, Turnage, Tchaikovsky, Bizet, Rimsky-Korsakov and Respighi.

Committed to music education and an advocate for the arts in general, Goetzel is founder of the ORPHEUS-WIEN foundation for the digital transformation of the arts, Co-Director and Co- Founder of the Opera by the Fjord Academy and Festival, an innovative academy and festival for aspiring singers and instrumentalists in partnership with the Bergen National Opera. Co- founder and CCO of the Vienna Art Network, Artistic Director of Music for Peace (El Sistema- Turkey) and a conducting mentor at Dirigentloftet, a program in Norway focused on developing young conductors.

Born and raised in Vienna, Goetzel trained as a violinist and began his studies with Richard Österreicher in Austria and Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy. He furthered his education in the United States, working with Seiji Ozawa, Riccardo Muti, Andre Previn, Zubin Mehta, and Bernard Haitink. In addition to attending the Music University in Graz and Brooklyn College, Goetzel was a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival for two summers. His previous posts include Principal Guest Conductor of the Kanagawa Philharmonic (2013-2017) and the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne (2012-2015), as well as Principal Conductor of the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, in Finland (2006-2012).

Highlights 2025-26

17 October 2025:
Release CD on BIS label: Schreker Die Gezeichneten; Korngold Sinfonetta, Krenek Potpourri - Spotify link

24, 25, 27 December 2025
Beethoven 9 with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo

29 January 2026
Nomination Orchestral CD of the Year by the BBC MUSIC AWARDS Jury.

16 February 2026
Veröffentlichung; Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2026 - Jury Orchestermusik; Schreker, Korngold, Krenek: Orchesterwerke. O National des Pays de la Loire, Sascha Goetzel (BIS)

22 February 2026
Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Stuttgart Phlharmonic. Beethoven Symphony no. 7 and Rachmaninov Paganini Var.

8, 10, 12 March 2026:
Messiaen Les ofrrandes Oubliées, Alma Mahler Lieder and Gustav Mahler Symphony no. 4 with Annika Synnove Beinnes, soprano and the ONPL Orchestra

20, 21, 22 March 2026
Sibelius Violin Concerto and Brahms Symphony no. 68 with Krakow Philharmonic

Reviews

BIS CD - release November 2025

Franz Schreker (1878-1934) Die Gezeichneten – Overture (shortened version) (1913-15)

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) Sinfonietta Op.5 (1912)

Ernst Krenek (1900-1991) Potpourri Op.54 (1927)

Orchestra National des Pays de la Loire/Sascha Goetzel

“Sascha Goetzel conducts lush and bold performances from the Orchestra National des Pays de la Loire in this brilliantly curated album which brings together three vital Austrian composers who were banned by the dictatorships of the 1930s. According to our review, ‘superb playing is matched by first-rate sound. *****”

— BBC Music Magazine

“The latest recording by Austrian conductor Sascha Goetzel, who has been musical director of the excellent Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire since 2022, paints a musical portrait of a happy Vienna before the catastrophe of the Second World War. Recorded in Angers in the beautiful acoustics of the Jean-Monnier Congress Centre in the summer of 2024, this new album from the Swedish label BIS presents little-known works by Franz Schreker, Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Ernst Krenek. […] The overture presented at the beginning of this exciting CD immediately plunges us into a mystery that only listening to the entire opera could possibly elucidate. Sascha Goetzel and the ONPL guide us beautifully through this wonderful atmosphere, setting the tone for a particularly appealing programme.
Son : 8,5 Notice : 10 Répertoire : 10 Interprétation : 10”

— CRESCENDO MAGAZINE (Belgium) - François Hudry

“In a reading that is both detailed and highly dramatic, Sascha Goetzel reveals the irrepressible momentum and flexibility of Korngold’s writing, shaping a performance of voluptuous refinement and constant urgency. His interpretation fuses the spirit of the Viennese waltz tradition—echoing the Strauss dynasty—with a dazzling palette of shimmering orchestral colors, where celesta, piano, and harp play a vital role.
The Scherzo combines rhythmic ferocity with expansive breathing, evoking the sweeping energy of Richard Strauss, while the Molto andante unfolds as a hypnotic nocturnal reverie, introduced by the suspended, ethereal voice of the cor anglais and revealing the hypersensitivity of a true composer-poet. The grandiose finale confirms Korngold’s lineage from Richard Strauss, uniting conquering drive with radiant sonic refinement, poised between ecstasy and sensuality. A performance of the highest artistry, delivered by masterful interpreters.
This new program, recently performed in Paris (Korngold’s Sinfonietta, La Seine Musicale, October 16, 2025), confirms the indisputable qualities of the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire: the ONPL has never sounded better, revealing its Viennese affinities with all the required subtlety.”

— Classiquenews.com

“Sascha Goetzel plays brilliantly with the excellently orchestrated Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. Expressive highs and lows, dark and bright passages are effectively and breathtakingly led from culmination to culmination by Goetzel.”

— Pizzicato

Sascha Goetzel

Conductor

James Ham

Yu Lu