Considered one of the leading orchestra conductors of our time, Markus Stenz returns in the 2023-24 season to the Dutch National Opera to conduct Mahagonny and Die Walküre in Hangzhou, then travels to Kurtág's hometown, Budapest, for a special performance of "Fin de partie" before touring for performances in Hamburg and Cologne. His engagements as a conductor will take him to MDR Leipzig, the Stuttgart Philharmonic and the Staatskapelle Halle. This season also marks his return to the National Orchestra of Lyon and, after a highly successful 2022 debut with Mahler's Symphony No. 2, his return to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for Bruckner's Symphony No. 7. Stenz conducts the Orchestra della Toscana and the Fondazione Haydn di Bolzano, and further afield, he will return to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and debut with Naples Philharmonic Orchestra.
Markus Stenz's career is studded with several high-profile positions. He has served as the principal conductor of the Radio Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, principal guest of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the most recent of which is conductor-in-residence of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. He was general music director of the city of Cologne and Gürzenich-Kapellmeister for 11 years, conducting Mozart's Don Giovanni, Wagner's Ring cycle, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, as well as Janáček's Jenůfa and Katya Kábanová and Eötvös's Love and Other Demons.
His recent symphonic engagements include his debut with the Orchestra dell'Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, multiple appearances with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and regular visits to three orchestras in which he previously held positions: the Radio Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Gürzenich Orchester Köln. With this last orchestra, he received the "The Best Concert Programme of the 3-04 Season" prize. He initiated several youth and educational projects such as "Experiment Klassik", "3. Akt", and the live-recording project "GO live".