Dirigent
Felix Bender
Born in Halle/Saale, Felix Bender was a member of the Thomanerchor Leipzig. He studied at the Franz Liszt School of Music in Weimar and assisted Herbert Blomstedt at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In 2008, he was awarded 1st prize and the audience prize at the Ring Award in Graz. In 2011, he was included in the Conductors’ Forum sponsorship programme and on the »Maestros of Tomorrow« list of artists. 2009‒2013 he worked as 2nd Kapellmeister at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar and with the Staatskapelle Weimar. From 2013‒2018, he was engaged as 1st Kapellmeister and Deputy General Music Director at the Chemnitz Theatre, where he took over as acting General Music Director in the 2016/2017 season. He has been a permanent guest conductor at Leipzig Opera since 2018 and has been General Music Director at Ulm Theatre since the 2021/2022 season. His productions at this theatre include »Parsifal«, »Ariadne auf Naxos«, »Anna Bolena«, »Tosca«, »Otello«, »Cavalleria rusticana«, »Pagliacci«, »Le nozze di Figaro« und Händel’s »Amadigi di Gaula«. His new discovery of Charles Tournemire’s opera »La Légende de Tristan«, which was completed in 1926, was named »World Premiere of the Year 2022« in the critics’ survey conducted by the trade journal »Opernwelt«.
In the 2022/2023 season, Felix Bender made his debut at the Cologne Opera with Puccini’s »Turandot« and at the Hanover State Opera with »Hänsel und Gretel« and the ballet »Der Liebhaber«. In October 2024, he opened the season at Cologne Opera with a new production of Richard Strauss’ »Elektra«. He has also made guest appearances at the Aalto Theatre in Essen with »Die Zauberflöte«, in Regensburg with »Der fliegende Holländer«, in Darmstadt with Gounod’s »Faust«, in Lübeck with »Otello«, in Kaiserslautern with »La traviata« and in Erfurt with Auber’s »Fra Diavolo«.
On the concert platform, Felix Bender has worked with the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, the MDR Symphony Orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the Robert Schumann Philharmonic Orchestra. He has toured northern Italy with the Haydn Orchestra Bolzano. He has conducted the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Basel Symphony Orchestra and the Residentie Orkest in The Hague. He recorded a CD of works by Nino Rota with the WDR Funkhausorchester for the Capriccio label. His most recent symphonic projects include the world premieres of orchestral works by Sarah Nemtsov and Alex Vaughn. As a chamber musician, he regularly performs contemporary works with the Sinfonietta Leipzig. He has also toured with the Lautten Compagney and conducted the Leipzig Festival Orchestra at the Leipzig Bach Festival.