Versatility, musicality and technical precision, and above all a natural and passionate approach are trademark features of French conductor Ariane Matiakh. The daughter of two opera singers, she grew up in an exceptionally musical environment and learnt to play the piano at an early age. Later, she studied orchestral conducting in Vienna. Particularly formative experiences during her comprehensive training include the time she spent studying with Leopold Hager, Yuji Yuasa, and Seiji Ozawa.
Since the 2022/23 season, she has been principal conductor of the Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra Reutlingen. In addition to her commitments in Reutlingen, her engagements for the 2025/26 season include a new production of Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen at the Stuttgart State Opera, Philippe Leroux's L'Annonce faite à Marie at the Théâtre du Châtelet, and Poulenc's La Voix Humaine and Escaich's Point d'Orgue at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Concert engagements will also take her to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, and other international orchestras.
As a guest conductor, she has worked with leading orchestras such as the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of BR, WDR, MDR, hr, and NDR, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
She has conducted opera productions at the Opéra et Orchestre de Montpellier, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the State Operas in Stuttgart and Hamburg, the Norwegian National Opera, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Opéra de Nice, and the Opéra du Rhin Strasbourg, among others.
Her discography includes a Grammy nomination for the Capriccio recording of Zara Levina's piano concertos with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as other recordings featuring works by Poulenc, Françaix, Clara Schumann, and Beethoven.
In 2022, she was named an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her services to French musical life.