(Photo: TAM Photography)

Étienne Lemieux-Després has been named the new Artistic Director and conductor of the Münchner Studienstiftungsorchester.

In a statement on social media Lemieux-Després said, “It’s been a while already but I hadn’t announced it properly so here it is! I’m delighted to share that I’ll be serving as the new artistic director and conductor of the Münchner Studienstiftungsorchester starting in 2027! Our first program together is a project very dear to my heart: we’ll be going back to the 1880’s in Munich and explore the musical taste of the young Richard Strauss before he moved out of his home town! I am especially excited to conduct Strauss’ first Symphony, after having done the second one a few years ago!”

The Canadian conductor has worked as an assistant to renowned conductors such as Kent Nagano, Marc Minkowski, Daniele Rustioni, and Ivor Bolton. he has conducted at the Berlin and Hamburg State Operas, Teatro Real Madrid, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and the Elbphilharmonie.

He received scholarships from the Bayreuth Festival to attend a conducting masterclass in 2024 and from the Richard Wagner Society of Nuremberg in 2018. Additionally, he attended the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute (ICAV) in the summer, where he conducted the Orchestre de la Francophonie.