Founded by Prince Elector Moritz von Sachsen in 1548,the Staatskapelle Dresden is one of the oldest orchestras in the world and steeped in tradition.

Over its long history many distinguished conductors and internationally celebrated instrumentalists have left their mark on this onetime court orchestra. Previous directors include Heinrich Schütz, Johann Adolf Hasse, Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner, who called the ensemble his "miraculous harp". The list of prominent conductors of the last 100 years includes Ernst von Schuch, Fritz Reiner, Fritz Busch, Karl Böhm, Joseph Keilberth, Rudolf Kempe, Otmar Suitner, Kurt Sanderling, Herbert Blomstedt and Giuseppe Sinopoli.The orchestra was directed by Bernard Haitink from 2002-2004 and most recently by Fabio Luisi from 2007- 2010. Principal Conductor since the 2012 / 2013 season has been Christian Thielemann. In May 2016 the former Principal Conductor Herbert Blomstedt received the title Conductor Laureate. This title has only been awarded to Sir Colin Davis before, who held it from 1990 until his death in April 2013. Myung-Whun Chung has been Principal Guest Conductor since the 2012 / 2013 season.

Richard Strauss and the Staatskapelle were closely linked for more than sixty years. Nine of the composer’s operas were premiered in Dresden, including "Salome", "Elektra" and "Der Rosenkavalier", while Strauss’s "Alpine Symphony" was dedicated to the orchestra. Countless other famous composers have written works either dedicated to the orchestra or first performed in Dresden. In 2007 the Staatskapelle reaffirmed this tradition by introducing the annual position of "Capell- Compositeur". Following on from Hans Werner Henze, Sofia Gubaidulina, Wolfgang Rihm and György Kurtág, Arvo Pärt will hold this title for the 2017 / 2018 season. As "Capell-Virtuos" the pianist Denis Matsuev will take part in concerts at the Semperoper as well as on tour.

The Staatskapelle’s home is the Semperoper, where it performs around 260 operas and ballets each season. In addition the ensemble presents another 50 symphonic and chamber concerts in the opera house, as well as playing at various musical events in Dresden’s Frauenkirche. As one of the world’s most celebrated and popular symphony orchestras, the Staatskapelle regularly travels abroad to the world’s leading classical venues. From 2013 the Staatskapelle Dresden is the resident orchestra of the Salzburg Easter Festival, whose Artistic Director is none other than Christian Thielemann.

The Staatskapelle also does valuable work to support the local region: Since October 2008 it has been the patron orchestra of Meetingpoint Music Messiaen (launched on January 15, 2015)in the double city of Görlitz-Zgorzelec. And in September 2010 the orchestra helped found the International Shostakovich Festival in Gohrisch (Saxon Switzerland), which is the only such annual event dedicated to the music and life of Dmitri Shostakovich.

At a ceremony in Brussels in 2007 the Staatskapelle became the first – and so far only – orchestra to be awarded the "European Prize for the Preservation of the World’s Musical Heritage". Volkswagen's "Die Gläserne Manufaktur" (The Transparent Factory) has been a partner of the Staatskapelle Dresden since 2008.

© David_Finlayson

Conductor: Alan Gilbert
15th - 19th November, 2017

New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert began his tenure in September 2009. He simultaneously maintains a major international presence, making guest appearances with orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Royal Concertgebouw, London Symphony, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Boston Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Gilbert is Conductor Laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and former Principal Guest Conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg. He has led productions for the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Zurich Opera, Royal Swedish Opera, and Santa Fe Opera, where he served as the first appointed Music Director.

In seven years at the New York Philharmonic, Gilbert has succeeded in transforming the 175-year-old institution into a leader on the cultural landscape. He has led staged productions of Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, Janácek's Cunning Little Vixen, Stravinsky's Petrushka, and Honegger's Joan of Arc at the Stake to great acclaim, and encouraged the development of two series devoted to contemporary music: CONTACT!, introduced in 2009, and the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, an exploration of today's music by a wide range of contemporary and modern composers, which was inaugurated in 2014 and returned in 2016.

Gilbert is Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies and holds the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies at the Juilliard School. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2008 conducting John Adams's Doctor Atomic, the DVD of which received a Grammy Award. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2014, honored with the Foreign Policy Association Medal and named an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2015, and nominated for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music Direction of two New York Philharmonic productions: Sweeney Todd and a 100th-birthday gala tribute to Frank Sinatra, broadcast on PBS's Live from Lincoln Center in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Pianist：YUNDI

Yundi was propelled onto the international stage when he won first prize at the XIV Chopin International Piano Competition at the age of 18, becoming the youngest and first Chinese winner in the history of the renowned competition. Since then, he has been regarded as a leading exponent of Chopin’s music. On autumn 2014, the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, as the organizer of The International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition has invited Yundi to be one of the jury of The 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in 2015, who is also the youngest juror of the competition. The New York Times praised his performances “the brilliant young Chinese pianist, has proved a technically astounding pianist who is by turns elegant and rambunctious, coolly expressive and white-hot.”

On his regular recital tours, Yundi has performed at many prestigious venues and festivals. In addition, orchestras and conductors with whom he has collaborated include the Berliner Philharmoniker and Seiji Ozawa, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester and Riccardo Chailly, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Harding, Rotterdam Philharmonic and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Philharmonia Orchestra and Andrew Davis, Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, and the Israel Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel. He has also performed with the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington), Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto Symphony and NHK Symphony.

Yundi’s new recording album of Chopin Preludes was released in the autumn of 2015 and Ballades in the spring of 2016. Then, Yundi started his recital tour of all Chopin program. YUNDI's 2016 spring tour includes Carnegie Hall in New York City, Paris, London, Berlin, Vienna and Rome.

On February 21st 2016, Yundi started his world tour with a concert in Walt Disney Concert Hall. In the following two months, he has toured 19 cities in 11 countries of Europe, 9 cities in Japan and 6 cities in China, gaining a great professional reputation. As the Carnegie Hall concert, many concerts has been sold out long before.