“Carefully formulated vocal lines and exemplary orchestra sounds of delicate transparency were coaxed from the orchestra by Jonas Alber.” - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“The fact that an orchestra such as the WDR Symphony Orchestra, used to the crème de la crème, should feel so inspired and motivated to follow the intentions of this conductor is further proof of his qualities.” – Aachener Zeitung
JONAS ALBER has established himself as a sought-after conductor both on the concert podium and at leading international opera houses. His name is particularly associated with benchmark performances of fin-de-siecle works, and his repertoire extends from the baroque to contemporary music. Today he is much in demand as a guest conductor with symphony orchestras and opera companies in Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and Oceania.
As a symphonic conductor, Jonas Alber has led the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony, the Bochum Symphony
Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Gran Canaria Philharmonic, the Guangzhou Symphony, the Hamburg Symphony, the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig, 
the Orchestre National de Belgigue, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Residentie Orkest of the Hague, the Osaka Philharmonic, Vienna’s Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria, the Vietnam National Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic Choir, the Zagreb Philharmonic and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, among others.
Past engagements have included repeat invitations from the Orchestre National de Lille and the Flanders Symphony, as well as debuts with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the Regensburg Philharmonic, the Estonian National Symphony, the Czech National Symphony, the Bucharest Enescu Philharmonic, Madrid’s Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecilia and the Hangzhou Philharmonic. He has worked with the Johannesburg Philharmonic and made his debut in Peru with the Filharmonica Sociedad in Lima. Other recent engagements have included appearances leading the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra Dublin, the Budapest Philharmonic, a Moscow debut with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra, a return to South America to lead the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, and concerts with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the South Westphalian Phiharmonic, the Braunschweig State Orchestra and the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, among others.
As an operatic conductor, Alber has conducted roughly 500 performances of more than 50 operas. His repertoire ranges from traditional operas by Mozart, Puccini and Richard Strauss to numerous new productions and premieres. He has led celebrated performances of such central works as Der Ring des Nibelungen, as well as new productions of operas that including Britten’s Peter Grimes, Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg, Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis, von Schillings’ Mona Lisa, d’Albert’s Tiefland and Janáček’s The Makropulos Case. Alber’s German premieres of Philippe Boesmans’ operas Reigen, Wintermärchen and Julie and of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito, with newly composed recitative texts by Manfred Trojahn, in 2006, the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, received international notice, as did his world premiere of Siegfried Matthus’ Cosima at the Staatstheater Braunschweig. His new production of Schreker’s Der Schatzgräber and his revival of Peter Grimes at the Frankfurt Opera both earned him critical acclaim. His operatic engagements in 2016/17 included a South Korean debut at the Daegu Opera House leading a new production of Die Fledermaus, as well as the revival of Kurt Atterberg’s opera Aladin at the Staatstheater Braunschweig, which he also recorded for the cpo label. He conducted a new production of Don Giovanni at the Theater Regensburg in June 2018, and made his debut at the Danish National Opera in August 2019 with a new production of Paul von Klenau's four-act opera Michael Kohlhaas, which was also broadcast and recorded for Danish Radio. In October/November 2019 Alber made his debut at the Ópera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, conducting John Cranko's legendary staging of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, followed by a new production of Les Contes d'Hoffmann on the occasion of Offenbach's 200th birthday. He was immediately reengaged for a new Giselle in February/March 2020.
Alber was General Music Director of the Staatstheater Braunschweig from 1998–2007. He has conducted at major opera houses all over the world, including the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Carmina Burana), the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels (world premiere of Benoit Mernier’s Frühlings Erwachen), the Semperoper Dresden (Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung), the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires (Abduction from the Seraglio), Teatro Real Madrid (Der Rosenkavalier) and the Vienna Volksoper (Franz Schmidt’s Notre Dame). In 2011 he led the world premiere of Winnie, by Bongani Ndodana-Breen, an opera about the life of Winnie Mandela, at the South African State Theatre in Pretoria. He conducted The Magic Flute at the Hamburgische Staatsoper in 2011/12 and Cosí fan tutte in 2012/13. He made his opera debut at the Opéra de Rouen Haute Normandie in autumn 2014, conducting a new production of Les Contes d'Hoffmann, with additional performances in Versailles.
Alber has collaborated with singers and soloists such as Joyce DiDonato, Isabelle Faust, Sabine Meyer, Martin Fröst, Sol Gabetta, Håkan Hardenberger, Franz Hawlata, Schlomo Mintz, Steven Osborne, René Pape, Anne Schwanewilms and Iris Vermillion, among others.
His numerous recordings include the complete symphonic works of Schumann and selected symphonic works by Mendelssohn, Franck, Mahler, Sibelius and Richard Strauss. He has recently made broadcast recordings with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, the Leipzig MDR Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. His DVD recording of Mernier’s Frühlings Erwachen earned him the prestigious French recording prize, the Diapason d’Or.
Jonas Alber was born in Offenburg, Germany. He studied violin and conducting in Freiburg and qualified as a conductor at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. There he was awarded a scholarship by the Herbert von Karajan Foundation.
(February 2023)
