Honorary Music Director

Christian EHWALD



Born in 1953, Christian EHWALD completed his early musical training in Berlin before continuing his studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he worked with the great conducting masters Arvid JANSONS and Mariss JANSONS. In 1979, he was awarded laureate at the Herbert von Karajan International Conducting Competition.
From 1981 to 1988, he served as Principal Conductor of the Jena Philharmonic, while also forming a significant artistic partnership with the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin. During this period, he conducted several opera premieres and led the Staatskapelle Berlin on tours to the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
EHWALD has appeared as a guest conductor with every leading German orchestra, including Berliner Philharmoniker, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Dresdner Philharmonie, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, and Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He also maintained a long-standing relationship with Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. His international career has taken him across Europe, the Americas, Japan and South Korea, with televised concert broadcasts alongside such renowned ensembles as NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Prague Symphony Orchestra, and Bavarian Radio Symphony.
From 1998 to 2003, EHWALD was General Music Director of the Magdeburg Theatre and Chief Conductor of the Magdeburg Philharmonic. In 2002, he was appointed Professor at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. He served as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2016, and currently holds the title of Honorary Music Director of Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra.