| Biography | Thomas Hengelbrock (born 9 June 1958 in Wilhelmshaven) is a German violinist, musicologist, stage director and conductor. He is the founder and director of the Balthasar-Neumann-Chor and the Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble. Since 2011, he has been the principal conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra.
Thomas Hengelbrock studied the violin with Rainer Kussmaul and started his career in Würzburg and Freiburg im Breisgau. He worked as an assistant to Witold Lutoslawski, Mauricio Kagel and Antal Doráti and played with ensembles such as Concentus Musicus Wien under Nikolaus Harnoncourt. In 1985 he cofounded the Freiburger Barockorchester where he worked as a violinist and a conductor.
Thomas Hengelbrock founded in Freiburg the choir Balthasar-Neumann-Chor in 1991 and in 1995 the orchestra Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble to perform works from Baroque to contemporary music in Historically informed performances, such as Verdi's operas Rigoletto and Falstaff at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in 2004 and 2007.
He was the conductor of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen from 1995 to 1999, and musical director of the Volksoper Wien from 2000 to 2003. In 2001 he founded the "Feldkirch Festival" in Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, and served as its artistic director until 2006.
He has been invited as conductor of such international orchestras as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
Hengelbrock made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival conducting Wagner's Tannhäuser in 2011.
He succeeded Christoph von Dohnányi as principal conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra in 2011. |