Jörg Widmann

Jörg Widmann is one of the most remarkable and versatile artists of his generation. In the 2025–26 season, he will be performing worldwide in all his facets — as clarinettist, conductor, and composer — which includes assuming the artistic director position of the Lucerne Festival Academy. Widmann is also principal guest conductor of the NDR Radiophilharmonie, associate conductor of the Münchener Kammerorchester, and artistic partner of Sinfonietta Riga. 

Following important engagements with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España, Widmann will conduct The Cleveland Orchestra for the first time as well as the Atlanta and Detroit symphony orchestras. Further guest conducting appearances see him work with the Oslo Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and Budapest Festival Orchestra. 

As a performer, Widmann premieres Olga Neuwirth’s clarinet concerto Zones of Blue with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Simon Rattle. He also performs chamber music with long-standing partners such as Isabelle Faust, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and Carolin Widmann at venues including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus Wien, and Boulez Saal. 

Widmann’s compositions are performed regularly by orchestras worldwide such as The Cleveland Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and many others. Widmann was composer in residence with the Berliner Philharmoniker during the 2023–24 season, which culminated in the world premiere of his Horn Concerto with Stefan Dohr as soloist. 

Widmann studied clarinet in Munich with Gerd Starke and at The Juilliard School with Charles Neidich. He also studied composition with Kay Westermann, Wilfried Hiller, Hans Werner Henze, and Wolfgang Rihm. Widmann later taught clarinet and composition at the University of Music Freiburg and, since 2017, the Barenboim-Said Academy Berlin. 

In June 2024, Widmann was named a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He is also a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Limerick, and was elected president of the International Max-Reger-Society. Widmann’s works continue to receive many awards, including, most recently, the Bach-Preis der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg.