GENERAL MANAGEMENT
Chief Conductor Bruckner Orchestra and Theatre Linz
Direttore Principale Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
Chief Conductor Designate Sinfonieorchester Basel (from 2025/26)
Chief Conductor Designate ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien (from 2026/27)
Music Director Designate Utah Symphony (from 2027/28)
Since taking over as Chief Conductor of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz in 2017, Markus Poschner and the top Austrian ensemble have received enthusiastic acclaim from audiences and the international press alike. In 2020 he and the Bruckner Orchestra Linz won the Austrian awards “Orchestra of the Year" and "Conductor of the Year".
Markus Poschner’s recording of the complete Brahms symphonies for Sony Classical with the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, whose Direttore Principale he has been since 2015, featured a completely new reading of these works and promptly won the prestigious International Classical Music Award (ICMA) in 2018, succeeded with a further award in the category “Assorted Programme” for his recording of Alfred Schnittke’s concert for piano and strings (soloist: Anna Gourari) and Paul Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler as well as Die vier Temparamente in 2025. His recording of Offenbach’s Maître Péronilla with the Orchestre National de France was celebrated by the press, also winning the German Record Critics’ Award in 2021. In 2024, Markus Poschner received Special Achievement Award from the ICMA Jury for his cycle of…
Chief Conductor Bruckner Orchestra and Theatre Linz
Direttore Principale Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
Chief Conductor Designate Sinfonieorchester Basel (from 2025/26)
Chief Conductor Designate ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien (from 2026/27)
Music Director Designate Utah Symphony (from 2027/28)
Since taking over as Chief Conductor of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz in 2017, Markus Poschner and the top Austrian ensemble have received enthusiastic acclaim from audiences and the international press alike. In 2020 he and the Bruckner Orchestra Linz won the Austrian awards “Orchestra of the Year" and "Conductor of the Year".
Markus Poschner’s recording of the complete Brahms symphonies for Sony Classical with the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, whose Direttore Principale he has been since 2015, featured a completely new reading of these works and promptly won the prestigious International Classical Music Award (ICMA) in 2018, succeeded with a further award in the category “Assorted Programme” for his recording of Alfred Schnittke’s concert for piano and strings (soloist: Anna Gourari) and Paul Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler as well as Die vier Temparamente in 2025. His recording of Offenbach’s Maître Péronilla with the Orchestre National de France was celebrated by the press, also winning the German Record Critics’ Award in 2021. In 2024, Markus Poschner received Special Achievement Award from the ICMA Jury for his cycle of the complete Bruckner Symphonies edition with Bruckner Orchestra Linz and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Already enjoying a long and highly successful collaboration, Markus Poschner will become the new Chief Conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra starting 2026/27. Earlier still, he will take over the position as Principal Conductor of the renowned Sinfonieorchester Basel (from 2025/26), and from 2027/28 the position of Music Director of the Utah Symphony Orchestra, one of the leading American orchestras.
Since winning the German Conductors Award, Markus Poschner has made guest appearances with many internationally renowned orchestras and opera houses, including Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin, Staatskapelle Berlin, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Bamberger Symphoniker, Dresdner Philharmonie, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, NHK Tokio as well as being present at Staatsoper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Oper Frankfurt, Wiener Staatsoper and Oper Zürich.
After studying in Munich and assisting Sir Roger Norrington and Sir Colin Davis, Markus Poschner worked as 1st Kapellmeister at Komische Oper Berlin. From 2007 to 2017, he was GMD of the Bremen Philharmonic. In July 2010, the University of Bremen appointed him honorary professor, a title also given to him by Anton Bruckner University Linz in 2020.
Markus Poschner conducted the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra for the first time at its’ extraordinary guest performance in Abu-Dhabi 2019 with Wagner's Walküre. In July 2022 he opened the Bayreuth Festival conducting Tristan und Isolde and returned there for the revival of the production in 2023.
The Bruckner Orchester Linz's performance combined both the epic and the intimate in a way one doesn’t often see. The immediacy of the sound was obvious from the first tremolo of the opening movement, flung out vigorously by Markus Poschner. […] There was no compromise in the intense despair which punctuates the movement [… ] and the wild col legno passage later on was utterly compelling. […] The lightness of touch in the strings allowed the music to flow effortlessly through the Ländler, which Poschner allowed to remain suitably bucolic, and never overly mannered. There were also some fabulous pianissimos, where even a whole section would make themselves scarcely audible.
