OLIVER WEDER
C. V. E n g l i s h
German conductor Oliver Weder has been the Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Thueringen Symphony Orchestra and at the opera in Ruolstadt, Germany. During his tenure at the helm of this long-established ensemble (founded in 1635), the Symphony performs more than 100 concerts and music-theatre performances per season.
As an internationally demanded guest-conductor, Oliver Weder has worked with over 40 orchestras and opera-theatres in Germany and abroad, including the Hamurg Symphony Orchestra, the German National Theatre Weimar, the San José Chamber Orchestra (USA), the Slovenian Philharmonic Lubljana, the Mainz State Theatre and the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra Konstanz. Additional guest appearances with the Rheinsberg Chamber Opera Festival, the Ludwigsburg Court-Festval, the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra an the Wuerttemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn have been met with critical acclaim.c
Maestro Weder studied conducting with Jiri Starek, Bernhard Kontarsky and Rol Reinhard at the Music Academy in Franfurt and completed his conducting education as the first West-German scholarship-holder with Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. His first long-term engagement led him to the Hoary State Opera and Ballet Theatre Perm/Russia. The stage with the famous ballet tradition and up to 30 different performances per month has proved a great opportunity for him:
Just a year later the "Flying Dutchman" appeared for the first time on stage under his baton. The performance caused a sensation that was even noted in Gemany. The Bavarian Radio and Newspapers like "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" and "Frankfurter Rundschau" made their way to Perm to document his work.
But above all, St. Petersburg theatres became aware of then thirty year old German Music Director: In 1994 Valery Gergiev chose him as the assistant for the German repertoire at the famous Mariinsky-Theatre (Salome, Parsifal) and monthly own performances with "La Traviata".
Simultaneously Maestro Weder was appointed Chief Conductor of the Rimsky-Korsakov Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Conservatory (1994 - 97). Opera productions in South Korea and for the Savonlinna Festival in Finland, concerts in Hamburg and Frankfurt as well as permanent guest-conducting appearances at the Mariinsky have enriched his Russian engagement.
German television (ZDF) and the "HamburgerAbendblatt" reported on the exotic young chief conductor in St. Petersburg.
A production of Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" yielded him a nomination for the Theatre-Award of the City of St. Petersburg for the best conductor of the year and he played a part in the "Anna Karenina" film adaption starring Sophie Marceau.
Weder has developed close working with some of the world's preeminent musicians of our generation including Anna Netrebko, Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons (Assistance "La Bohème) and Hartmut Haenchen (Wagner: "Meistersinger" at the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam).
Oliver Weder continues his close working relationship with the orchestras of St. Petersburg including opera productions during the "Mozart-Year" 2006, an engagement as an honorary Conductor with Shostakovich's "Leningrad"-Symphony on the 65th Anniversary of VE day and a current open-air production of the opera "Demon" by Anton Rubinstein.
Extensive TV-productions on Schiller's birthday in 2009, most recently the 20-year anniversary of the German reunification as well as CD and radio recordings presenting compositions of the Rudolstadt Court-Chapel are further examples of Weder's devotion to his art and the community which he serves.
In 2022 Oliver Weder was appointed General Music Director of the Theatre in Rudolstadt
As a leader in his community, Maestro Weder is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees in a regional Community Foundation and as deputy in the county council for social and cultural projects in his region.