About - Jonathan Stockhammer

A fresh approach, always

To Jonathan, there can be surprising little difference between making the classical or the contemporary repertoire come to life. If needed, he devises new ways to rehearse and perform, bringing a total understanding to all parties involved, making them owner of the music and transfer that directly to the audience. His expertise treats the notation as a way to make the music sound ‘like it should’ – a focus on the chain between idea and realization, which applies to Mozart as it does to music of the now.

The critical response to this wide offering is often remarkably in unison. The Berliner Zeitung wrote “Stockhammer inspired the orchestra in Mahler’s Seventh Symphony to extraordinary virtuosity. Music of a presence that made the question of the future seem indifferent”. The New York Times said about the opera Powder Her Face by Thomas Adès: “Stockhammer supervised a vibrant, exacting account of this complex, haunting work. At the end the ovations were long and loud.”

Watch + Listen

Debussy – La Mer

First movement De l’aube à midi sur la mer of Claude Debussy’s La Mer with the London Symphony Orchestra recorded live in concert at the Barbican in London on 20 April 2023.
“Working with an impressionistic musical canvas revealed Stockhammer’s adaptability as a conductor, as he revelled in Debussy’s masterly use of instrumental textures. There was a real sense of nature awakening.” – Opera and Classical Music Reviews

Barber – Adagio for Strings

Jonathan Stockhammer conducting Samuel Barber’s famous orchestral version with the Münchener Kammerorchester. Filmed in Sugar Mountain, Munich.

Bernstein – Divertimento

Leonard Bernstein’s Divertimento for Orchestra, played by the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jonathan Stockhammer. Recorded live in 2012 at the Kölner Philharmonie.

Xenakis – ‘Voile’ for 20 strings

Jonathan Stockhammer conducting the Münchener Kammerorchester in Iannis Xenakis’s Voile for 20 strings. Recorded at Sugar Mountain in Münich.

Beethoven – Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage

Jonathan Stockhammer conducting the Choir and Orchestra of the Elisabeth University of Music, Hiroshima, in Ludwig van Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, Op. 112. Young Euro Classic Festival, 2017, Konzerthaus Berlin.

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Promising beginnings

Born in Los Angeles in 1969, Jonathan studied composition with Ian Krouse and Stephen Hartke, and conducting with Daniel Lewis. Still a student, he had the opportunity to fill in for a series of concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and was subsequently mentored by chief conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. He later moved to Germany, where he studied with and became the assistant of conductor/composer Peter Eötvös. These early experiences made enduring impressions.

Powerful collaborations

Since the late 1990s Jonathan has worked closely with cutting-edge collectives such as Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Resonanz, Klangforum Wien and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, who welcome his initiatives. Jonathan has conducted leading international orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, NDR Symphony Hamburg, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Philharmonia, the Seoul Philharmonic and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared at the festivals of Salzburg, Lucerne, Schwetzingen, Donaueschingen, by the Biennale Venice, the Wiener Festwochen and Wien Modern.

Jonathan’s keen interest in interdisciplinary productions and his ability to cross-reference on a wide scale has led to surprising collaborations and gained him the trust of many creative leaders in theater, music and dance. He frequently returns to Opernhaus Zürich, Ensemble Modern, Staatsballett Berlin, Theater Basel/Sinfonieorchester Basel, the Dresdner Philharmonie, Essener Philharmoniker, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin.

Discover

“The Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Jonathan Stockhammer performed ‘limited approximations’ by Georg Friedrich Haas, in a wonderfully well-rehearsed and dramaturgically coherent interpretation. One of the enduring pieces of the millennium.” – Berliner Zeitung (Photo Felix Löchner)

“A universal musician who conducts Haydn just as convincingly as any intricate contemporary score.” – Südwestrundfunk (Photo Hiromi Hoshiko)

“Jonathan Stockhammer supervised a vibrant, exacting account of this complex, haunting work. At the end the ovations were long and loud.” The New York Times on ‘Powder Her Face’ by Thomas Adès. (Photo Josh Higgason)

“Jonathan Stockhammer delivered with carefully balanced dynamics extremely effective interpretations of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and the delicate chamber-like accompaniment of the Rückert-Lieder.” – Operaclick (Photo Hiromi Hoshiko)

“The Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Jonathan Stockhammer performed ‘limited approximations’ by Georg Friedrich Haas, in a wonderfully well-rehearsed and dramaturgically coherent interpretation. One of the enduring pieces of the millennium.” – Berliner Zeitung (Photo Felix Löchner)

“A universal musician who conducts Haydn just as convincingly as any intricate contemporary score.” – Südwestrundfunk (Photo Hiromi Hoshiko)

“Jonathan Stockhammer supervised a vibrant, exacting account of this complex, haunting work. At the end the ovations were long and loud.” The New York Times on ‘Powder Her Face’ by Thomas Adès. (Photo Josh Higgason)

“Jonathan Stockhammer delivered with carefully balanced dynamics extremely effective interpretations of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and the delicate chamber-like accompaniment of the Rückert-Lieder.” – Operaclick (Photo Hiromi Hoshiko)

Music takes many forms

A selection of the operas conducted by Jonathan: Zemlinsky Eine florentinische Tragödie and Ravel L’Heure Espagnole (Opéra de Lyon), Wolfgang Rihm Proserpina and the lyric work Deus Passus (with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra), Thomas Adès Powder Her Face (New York City Opera), Philip Glass Satyagraha (Theater Basel/Komische Oper Berlin) and Luigi Nono Al gran sole carico d’amore (Theater Basel).

Jonathan relishes music that blurs the boundaries between classical music, rock, pop, and hip-hop. His CD Greggery Peccary & Other Persuasions with Ensemble Modern, featuring works by Frank Zappa, won an Echo Klassik Award. He also recorded a new soundtrack to Sergei Eisensteins’s 1925 film The Battleship Potemkin, composed and performed by the Pet Shop Boys. His live recording of The New Crystal Silence with Chick Corea, Gary Burton and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra won a Grammy in 2009. His collaboration with spoken word artist Saul Williams on Said the Shotgun to the Head, featuring music composed by Thomas Kessler, has also been particularly successful. To date, he has conducted the work with the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic.

This season

The 2023–24 season sees Jonathan debut with the Staatskapelle Dresden and at the New National Theatre Tokyo. In Berlin he will conduct BOVARY, the opening production of Christian Spuck, the new artistic director of the Staatsballett Berlin. Further highlights include returns to the hr-Sinfonieorchester, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the SWR Symphonieorchester, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Essener Philharmoniker, Turku Philharmonic and the Ljubljana Festival.