Cologne Philharmonic Hires New Artistic Director

Cultural manager Ewa Bogusz-Moore will assume the role as of August 1, 2025

Germany’s Cologne Philharmonic will welcome Ewa Bogusz-Moore to the position of artistic director and managing director as of August 1, 2025. She will succeed Louwrens Langevoort, who has held both positions since August 1, 2005.

The search committee, supported by the personnel consulting company Egon Zehnder, presented two candidates to the Supervisory Board after an extensive application process, of which Bogusz-Moore was selected.

Bogusz-Moore originally trained as a cellist and studied cultural management at the University of London and held her first successful festival projects in Great Britain. 

After various positions in the international cultural sector, she has been general director of the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra since 2018; she is also the former deputy director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. In October 2022, she became the Co-CEO of the European Union Youth Orchestra.

“I am very pleased to be able to present Ewa Bogusz-Moore, a highly internationally experienced cultural manager as a successor to the 20-year director of Louwrens Langevoort,” said Chairman of the Supervisory Board Lord Mayor Henriette Reker in the press release. 

“She inspired me in the job interviews with a striking professionalism and holistic approach to the artistic, programmatic and economic challenges of an international company,” Reker added. “I am convinced that under your leadership, the Cologne Philharmonic will play a pioneering role to be newly developed in the music and cultural landscape."

“Ewa Bogusz-Moore, with her strategic, visionary power, will provide both new impulses and the necessary stability in the complex music business of the Cologne Philharmonic,” said Head of Culture Stefan Charles. “Also with a view to the in-house orchestras, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne and WDR Symphony Orchestra, she will design an outstanding program in the coming years and position the Cologne Konzerthaus even more internationally. I will be happy to support them in this."

“I warmly congratulate Ewa Bogusz-Moore on this important task at the head of the Cologne Philharmonic, undoubtedly one of the cultural heart of this city,” expressed WDR director Tom Buhrow. “We at WDR are proud to contribute to the success of the Philharmonie with our music ensembles and look forward to continuing this cooperation together with Ewa Bogusz-Moore and the entire Philharmonie team.”

“I am very happy to be given this great opportunity. The Cologne Philharmonic is a cultural lighthouse in Europe, and it will be a great privilege for me to become part of this team. The Cologne Philharmonic will be a pioneer, a place that inspires through creativity and the highest musical level,” Bogus-Moore said. “As a cultural manager who works in institutions in Poland and internationally, and as a member of ECHO, the European Concert Hall Organization, I have observed how much the music industry has changed in recent years and what new challenges we have to face. I believe that institutions such as the Cologne Philharmonic are the platforms to bring people together and enhance the entire community. I'm looking forward to all the great things we can achieve together.”