Biography

  • Honorary conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg

Leopold Hager, who celebrated his 85th birthday in October 2020, hails from Salzburg, Austria, and studied conducting, organ, piano, harpsichord and composition at the famous Mozarteum in his hometown.

After holding several posts in Mainz, Linz and Cologne, he became General Music Director in Freiburg/Breisgau, then Principal Conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra in Salzburg and, until 1996, Music Director of the RTL Symphony Orchestra Luxembourg. He has maintained a close connection to this orchestra, meanwhile renamed Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, and, in January 2021, has been distinguished with the title of Honorary Conductor. From 2015 to 2017, Leopold Hager was Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música. Besides his extensive work as a conductor, Leopold Hager was Professor for Orchestra Conducting at the University of Music in Vienna from 1992 to 2004.

From 2005 to 2008, Leopold Hager served as Chief Conductor at the Volksoper in Vienna where he conducted new stagings of Sophie's Choice, The Magic Flute, Turandot, Der Freischütz, La Traviata, Hoffmanns Erzählungen, Hochzeit des Figaro and Meistersinger. Much acclaimed performances abroad took place in Japan and Spain.

As a guest, he has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the Vienna State Opera and appeared frequently at many of the world's leading opera houses, amongst them the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Semperoper Dresden, Metropolitan Opera New York, Chicago Lyric Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden London, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires and Opera Bastille Paris as well as the Opéra Lyon, National Theatre Prague and the Edinburgh Festival.

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