From the second Sascha Goetzel walked on stage … we knew we were in for a treat of a concert. He is one of those magical conductors who ooze charisma, connecting with every single member of the orchestra, pulling in the audience to come along with them for the ride.

– BBC PROMS BEHIND THE SCENES, ALICE NEWTON

Music Director – Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire
Music Director Laureate – Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra
Principal Guest Conductor – Sofia Philharmonic

A dynamic, charismatic, and compelling musical presence on the podium,
Sascha Goetzel has emerged as a multifaceted conductor—a remarkable orchestra builder, creative programmer, entrepreneur, educator, and advocate for musicians and artists. He is currently serving as Music Director of the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, a post he has taken on for an initial four-year term beginning in September 2022. In addition he has been appointed the position as Music Director of the NYO-CAN, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada from summer 2022.

Next to his Music Director positions with the ONPL in France and NYO- Canada, Goetzel currently holds the Principle Guest Conductor position of the Sofia Philharmonic and applies his same gifts as an orchestra builder, improving the caliber of the ensemble and burnishing its reputation.

During his 11 season tenure as Principle Conductor and Artistic Director of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, he contributed significantly to the ensemble. His imaginative programming, award-winning recordings, and widely praised performances—including tours to the Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms, Royal Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and Hong Kong Arts Festival—are among his notable accomplishments.

Over the last years, Goetzel has been a highly sought-after guest conductor with a number of internationally prominent orchestras like the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre National de France, Yuomiuri Symphony Orchestra, Toyko Metropolitan Orchestra, Munich Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Tonkünstler Orchestra, Orchestre, Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, and Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna—collaborating with major soloists, among them Daniil Trifonov, Rudolf Buchbinder, Joyce Di Donato, Yuja Wang, Nemanja Radulovic, Maxim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin, Fatma Said, Renee Fleming, Anna Netrebko, Bryan Terfel, Brandford Marsalis and Murray Perahia, among many others.

In 2014, he made an electric debut at the Vienna State Opera conducting Le Nozze di Figaro, which led to six return engagements—productions of Fledermaus, La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Rigoletto, Magic Flute and Rosenkavalier. Goetzel has also appeared at the Mariinsky Theatre, Zürich Opera House, Tokyo Metropolitan Opera, Tokyo Nikikai Opera Company in Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan, Opéra de Nantes-Angers,Opera de Rennes, Wiener Volksoper, and Opéra de Montpellier.

Goetzel has released several Award winning CDs in both, orchestral and as partner for Solo concerti/Arias including winning albums on the Deutsche Grammophon, WARNER, Onyx and Naïve labels featuring works by Hindemith, Bartok, Schulhoff, Berlioz, Turnage, Tchaikovsky, Bizet, Rimsky-Korsakov and Respighi.

Committed to music education and an advocate for the arts in general, Goetzel is founder of the ORPHEUS-WIEN foundation for the digital transformation of the arts, Co-Director and Co-Founder of the Opera by the Fjord Academy and Festival, an innovative academy and festival for aspiring singers and instrumentalists in partnership with the Bergen National Opera.

Co-founder and CCO of the Vienna Art Network, Artistic Director of Music for Peace (El Sistema-Turkey) and a conducting mentor at Dirigentloftet, a program in Norway focused on developing young conductors.