Cultural DistrictClick here to go back to the home page

Sir Donald Runnicles has been the General Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (DOB) since 2009, Music Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival since 2005, and in his final season as Principal Guest Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony since 2001. Runnicles has also been Principal Guest Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra since 2019, its first ever. He holds the title of Conductor Emeritus of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, having served as Chief Conductor from 2009-2016. 

Sir Donald enjoys close and enduring relationships with many of the most significant opera companies and symphony orchestras. His previous posts include Music Director of the San Francisco Opera (1992-2008), during which he led world premieres of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic, Conrad Susa’s Les Liaisons dangereuses, and the U.S. premiere of Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise; Principal Conductor of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (2001-2007); and General Music Director of the Theater Freiburg and Orchestra (1989-1993). 

Mr. Runnicles’ extensive discography includes recordings of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, Mozart’s Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Britten’s Billy Budd, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi, and Aribert Reimann’s L’invisible. His recording of Wagner arias with Jonas Kaufmann and the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin won the 2013 Gramophone prize for Best Vocal Recording, and his recording of Janáček’s Jenůfa with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin was nominated for a 2016 GRAMMY award for Best Opera Recording. 

Sir Donald Runnicles was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was appointed OBE in 2004, and was made a Knight Bachelor in 2020. He holds honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. 

Jan Lisiecki’s interpretations and technique speak to a maturity beyond his age. At 28, the Canadian looks back on a career encompassing a decade and a half on the world’s greatest stages, on which he performs over a hundred concerts a year. 

Lisiecki works closely with the most eminent conductors and orchestras of our time. This season sees his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic as well as a recital in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium. He will also perform at Vienna Musikverein’s Goldener Saal, with Bamberg Symphony and Manfred Honeck, and will play the complete cycle of all five Prokofiev concertos over the next two seasons. 

In June, he concluded a season as Artist in Residence both at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and Cologne Philharmonie. His last recital program, with which he concluded the Elbphilharmonie residency, was celebrated in over 50 cities around the globe, including at Konzerthaus Vienna’s Main Hall, Chicago Symphony Hall, La Scala in Milan, Seoul Arts Center and in São Paulo. 

Recent return invitations include the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony and Chicago Symphony, as well as Orchestre de Paris and Staatskapelle Dresden. Lisiecki is a fixture at major summer festivals across Europe and North America, has performed at the Salzburg Festival and made his third appearance at the BBC Proms in July. 

Jan Lisiecki was offered an exclusive recording contract by Deutsche Grammophon at the age of 15. Since then, he has recorded nine albums which have been awarded with the JUNO Award, ECHO Klassik, Gramophone Critics' Choice, Diapason d'Or and Edison Klassiek. 

At eighteen, he received both the Leonard Bernstein Award and Gramophone’s Young Artist Award, becoming the youngest ever recipient of the latter. He was named UNICEF Ambassador to Canada in 2012.