Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz Extends Conductor Michael Francis' Contract

The 47-year-old British conductor is also presently Music Director of the Florida Orchestra

British conductor Michael Francis took on the role of Chief Conductor with the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz in Ludwigshafen at the beginning of the 2019/20 season. With this recent contract extension, he will spend another five years with the orchestra.

Francis is also presently the Music Director of the Florida Orchestra, a position he has held since the 2015/15 season. That same year, he became Music Director of the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego and has recently concluded a multi-year exploration of Mozart's life.

In the 2022/23 season, he will make appearances with the Cincinnati Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the Philharmonia, and the Minnesota Orchestra.

"Michael Francis is a compelling music director who has developed the Staatsphilharmonie into an outstanding orchestra in recent years," said Katharina Binz, Germany's Culture Minister.

"I look forward to another five years with the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie," Francis said. "The fact that we can touch so many people here as an orchestra with our music drives me and fulfills me greatly."

In September 1919, after the First World War, a group of citizens came together in Landau to found a traveling state symphony orchestra. After the inaugural concert on February 15, 1920, the orchestra embarked on its first concert tour through the Palatinate and Saarland. The Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz is now continuing this 102-year tradition.