Germany's WDR Sinfonieorchester Appoints New Chief Conductor

33-year-old French conductor Marie Jacquot will step into the role in the summer of 2026

The French conductor Marie Jacquot has recently been named as the new Chief Conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester, which is based in Cologne, Germany. Jacquot, 33, will succeed Cristian Măcelaru in the summer of 2026, for an initial term of four seasons — while Măcelaru will take on the role of Artistic Partner for the 2025/26 season.

Jacquot initially studied the trombone in Paris, then pursued conducting studies in Vienna and Weimar. She was the 2019 recipient of the Ernest Schuch Prize and was nominated for Newcomer of the Year at the International Opera Awards. Jacquot has also worked as the assistant to Kirill Petrenko at the Bavarian State Opera.

As a guest conductor, Jacquot has recently worked with groups such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin, and the Staatskapelle Dresden.

She is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and in August 2024, she will take up a post as Principal Conductor of the Royal Danish Theatre Copenhagen.

"We are proud to have won a chief conductor for the WDR Sinfonieorchester who can already look back on a remarkable career," said Tom Buhrow, the orchestra's general manager. "Our symphony orchestra has built up an excellent reputation in the international music scene. Marie Jacquot will further strengthen our artistic development, inspiring the people of North Rhine-Westphalia and beyond with classical music."

"I worked with the orchestra for the first time in December 2022 and we immediately connected both musically and personally," Jacquot said. "I am thrilled by the stylistic versatility of the ensemble and, above all, by its absolute will to achieve the best quality possible."