German National Theater Weimar's Conductor to Step Down in 2025

Conductor Dominik Beykirch will not renew his contract, in order to pursue other opportunities

33-year-old German conductor Dominik Beykirch has decided not to extend his contract at the German National Opera Weimar (DNT), and will conclude his time at the house in 2025. After 10 years conducting in Weimar, Beykirch said he wanted to pursue other opportunities elsewhere.

His departure coincides with the exit of DNT's current Intendant Hasko Weber, who has been succeeded by the three-man group of Valentin Schwarz, Dorian Dreher, and Timon Jansen.

Beykirch has been at DNT since 2015 when he was hired as a Kapellmeister. He was promoted to Chief Conductor in 2020 and steered the house through the pandemic. During the 2024/25 season, he will conduct new productions of Strauss's Salome (directed by Friedrike Blum) and Verdi's La traviata (directed by Andrea Moses).

A graduate of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music Weimar, Beykirch studied conducting with Prof. Nicolás Pasquet, Prof. Gunter Kahlert, and Martin Hoff. He has also appeared in masterclasses with Bernard Haitink, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Ton Koopman, among others.

He was the recipient of the German Conducting Prize 2017 and won first prize at the 6th German University Competition for Orchestral Conducting, as well as sponsorship prizes from the publishing houses Bärenreiter and Breitkopf & Härtel and the Ernst von Schuch Prize.

As guest conductor, Beykirch has worked with groups including the HR, MDR, WDR and SWR orchestras (German broadcast services), the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Duisburg Philharmonic, and the Jena Philharmonic, among others.