Yoel Gamzou
BBC Philharmonic - Mahler 9th Symphony
An interpreter of extraordinary vision and intensity, Gamzou delivered Mahler's Ninth with burning clarity and emotional power, navigating the symphony's deep structure with poetic finesse.
The Arts Desk (May 14, 2025)
OperaWire.com (July 26, 2025)Season 25/26 and Highlights
OPÉRA NATIONAL DE MONTPELLIER
Mascagni - Cavalleria rusticana
Leoncavallo - Pagliacci
Oct 3/5
STUTTGART PHILHARMONIC
Bernstein - Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Prokofiev: Suite Romeo & Juliette
Nov 13/14/15
SWEDISH RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 1
Walton - Symphony No. 1
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BBC PHILHARMONIC
Programs TBC
Feb 10
ORCHESTRA SINFONICA DI MILANO
Mahler - Symphony No. 10
BAVARIAN STATE OPERA
Beethoven - Fidelio
March 8/13/15
HAMBURG STATE OPERA
Weber - Der Freischütz
Apr 23/26/28, May 3
MUNICH OPERA FESTIVAL
Beethoven - Fidelio
July 12/15/18
Biography
Yoel Gamzou is an Israeli-American conductor and composer who, with passionate intensity and his unique artistic vision, expands the boundaries of traditional music performance, making him one of the most remarkable representatives of a new generation of conductors.
His performances combine artistic richness with a deeply personal level of expression. He will assume the position of Music Director of the Polish National Opera at the start of the 2026/27 season.
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As a highly sought-after symphonic conductor, Yoel Gamzou has worked with renowned orchestras such as the Wiener Symphoniker, the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the Hamburger Symphoniker, the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, the Essener Philharmoniker, the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Frankfurt Museumsorchester, the Mozarteumsorchester Salzburg, the St. Gallen Symphonie Orchester, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and many others.
The 2025/26 season includes several prestigious engagements. He will return to the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, among others.
Highlights of the past season included conducting Salome at the Baltic Opera Festival, followed by a tour with the Angelika Prokopp Summer Academy of the Vienna Philharmonic. Yoel Gamzou also presented Der Freischütz at the Hamburg State Opera and made his debuts with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Essen Philharmonic. Re-engagements took him to the Bern Symphony Orchestra, the Brandenburg Youth Philharmonic, and once again to the Vienna State Opera with Salome . The season concluded with the world premiere of Elmar Lampson's Wellen at the Theater Bremen.
From 2017 to 2022, Yoel Gamzou was General Music Director at the Theater Bremen, where under his direction productions of Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District , Die Fledermaus , Die tote Stadt , L'Étoile , Der Rosenkavalier , Jenůfa and Carmen were created.
From 2012 to 2015 he was First Kapellmeister and Deputy General Music Director at the Kassel State Theatre.As a guest conductor, Yoel Gamzou has appeared at, among others, the Hamburg State Opera ( Carmen , Tosca , Die tote Stadt , Der Freischütz ), the Bavarian State Opera ( Il Segreto di Susanna , Schön ist die Welt , Die tote Stadt ), the Vienna State Opera ( Tosca , Die Fledermaus , Die tote Stadt , Salome ), the Deutsche Oper Berlin ( Tosca ), the Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden ( Turandot , Carmen , The Merry Widow ), the Gothenburg Opera ( Die schweigsame Frau ), and the Aalto Theatre Essen ( Der Freischütz ). He has also conducted Marina Abramović's The Seven Deaths of Maria Callas at the English National Opera, the Opéra de Paris, the Greek National Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Teatro di San Carlo, and the Bavarian State Opera.
Also published by Schott Music is his completion of Mahler's unfinished Tenth Symphony. Titled “Realisation and Elaboration of the Unfinished Drafts”, the work followed a highly personal and controversial approach. It was a sensation at the time of its premiere and catapulted him into the international spotlight when it was first performed in 2010 – at that point Gamzou was only 23. It was subsequently released as a CD-recording by the German label “WERGO” and won the ECHO Klassik Award for 2017. It has since been performed all over the world, by Gamzou and many other conductors.
Yoel Gamzou is also active as a composer. His most recent work is the large-scale piece The Portrait – Archaeology of an Obsession for orchestra and narrator, based on texts by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Released by Schott Music, it premiered in January 2025 at the Konzerthaus Berlin under his direction and with Sir Tim Rice as narrator.
Yoel Gamzou has been honoured with the ECHO Klassik Award in 2017, the Princess Margriet Award of the European Culture Foundation in 2013, and the Berenberg Culture Prize in 2012. In 2007, at the age of 19, he won the special prize of the International Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition, Bamberg.
Yoel Gamzou grew up in New York, London, and Tel Aviv. He was the last student of Carlo Maria Giulini, who was his main mentor.
2025/26
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