The Komische Oper Berlin has announced the appointment of James Gaffigan as Music Director for the beginning of the 2023-24 season.

His new contract will run through the summer of 2027.

Gaffigan is a renowned conductor who has worked with such organizations as the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Munich Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich.

In Berlin, he appeared at the New Year’s Concert with the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester and on Jan. 9, 2022 he will take on a performance with the Staatskapelle Berlin.

“James Gaffigan is a perfect fit for the artistic profile of the Komische Oper Berlin. He is a team player, young and curious, yet experienced and with a meticulous sense of stylistic diversity,” Susanne Moser and Philip Bröking, Artistic Co-Directors as of 2022-23, said in an official press statement. “His broad and varied repertoire as well as his multi-faceted interests – including musical education – will be of great value to us in the years to come and a great help to master the various challenges related to the renovation of Komische Oper Berlin’s home theater. We are happy and thankful, both from a personal as well as an artistic point of view!”

Regarding his new appointment, James Gaffigan said, “I am proud to be able to shape this institution in the future as General Music Director and a member of the artistic management team, together with the wonderful orchestra and the entire ensemble. I am grateful that I have been able to enjoy an intensive education and cultural experience since my early childhood, which would not have been possible without the public education system of the city of New York, since I inherently lacked the means. I, therefore, also see my task of giving something back with this gift. I’m looking forward to doing that at the Komische Oper Berlin.”