Rasmus Baumann

From 2008 to 2014, Rasmus Baumann, a native of Gelsenkirchen, was Principal Conductor of the Musiktheater im Revier, before taking up the post of General Music Director of the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, the MiR’s opera orchestra, in the summer of 2014. Since then, he has launched numerous innovative projects: these include the reimagining of the symphony concert cycle, the expansion of crossover concerts, the introduction of family concerts and the ‘Sunday Concerts’ which he hosts. But it is not only with the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen that Baumann is enjoying success. In recent seasons, he has been a guest conductor with renowned orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the NDR Radio Philharmonic and the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra. Numerous immediate re-invitations, including from the Frankfurt Opera House and the orchestras in Duisburg, Kassel and Cologne, bear witness to his skilful work. After studying in Essen (piano), Frankfurt (conducting) and Bochum (church music), engagements at the Aalto Theatre in Essen and the State Theatre in Kassel brought him back to the Ruhr region. Alongside his career as a classical conductor, Rasmus Baumann has always been active in a wide variety of fields: He worked as a jazz pianist, wrote piano reductions for Bärenreiter Publishers, composed the theme song for the !Sing – Day of Song 2014 and developed a passion for historically informed performance practice. At the MiR, Rasmus Baumann’s most recent productions have included ‘Tristan und Isolde’, ‘Don Giovanni’, ‘Die lustige Witwe’, ‘Mathis der Maler’,‘Dialogues des Carmélites’, the ballet ‘Romeo and Juliet’, and the popular crossover concerts of the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen. As early as his first season at the MiR, in 2009, he was awarded the Gelsenkirchen Theatre Prize for his production of Britten’s opera *Peter Grimes* and for initiating and directing the crossover series *MiR goes …*.