Christoph Eschenbach

Born in Breslau, Germany — today Wroclaw, Poland — Christoph Eschenbach began his solo piano career competing in numerous piano competitions. After winning the first prize of the Clara Haskil competition in Luzern, he fell in demand worldwide by famous concert halls and orchestras. Eschenbach met George Szell and Herbert von Karajan in these engagements, and the two conducting titans would become important teachers for him as his focus began to change to conducting. He began in 1972, and made his debut in the USA in 1975 with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
 
Eschenbach regularly appears as a distinguished guest conductor with the finest orchestras and opera houses throughout the world as well as prestigious festivals. His deep repertoire pool ranges from J.S. Bach to contemporary music, reflecting his commitment not only to canonical works but also to the music of the late tentieth and early twenty-first centuries as well as opera. Eschenbach has recorded extensively, both as a conductor and a pianist over the course of his career, recently returning to the keyboard in a series of acclaimed collaborations with baritone Matthias Goerne. He has received countless awards and honors, including the 2015 Ernst von Siemens music award in honor of his life‘s dedication to music.