Extensive practical experience is essential in training. The two professors of orchestral conducting agree on this. ‘We could only dream of the opportunities available in Weimar during our own training,’ says Prof. Gregor Bühl. ‘In addition to extensive professorial supervision, the basis for success is clearly the high proportion of teaching in front of an orchestra,’ affirms Prof. Ekhart Wycik.

This success, the foundations for which were laid many years ago by the work of emeritus professors Gunther Kahlert and Nicolás Pasquet, is reflected in the numerous awards won by students and alumni:

These range from first prize in the MDR Symphony Orchestra's conducting competition for Central German music academies, which has gone to Weimar 13 times in 13 years, to successes in major international competitions, such as the

•    Concours international de jeunes chefs d'orchestre de Besançon
•    Donatella Flick Competition of the London Symphony Orchestra
•    Georg Solti Competition, Frankfurt
•    Gustav Mahler Competition of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra
•    German Conducting Award
•    Dimitri Mitropoulos Competition, Athens
•    Competition of the Korean National Symphony Orchestra in Seoul
•    Witold Lutosławski Competition, Białystok 
•    Arturo Toscanini Competition, Parma

And when German orchestras or opera houses are looking for conductors, their searching glances often turn to the young talent coming out of Weimar. 

Among the graduates of the ‘Weimarer Dirigentenschmiede’ who have taken on leading positions in recent years alone are

•    David Afkham (Spanish National Orchestra, Madrid)
•    Vitali Alekseenok (German Opera on the Rhine)
•    Felix Bender (Ulm Theatre)
•    Dominik Beykirch (German National Theatre Weimar / Weimar State Orchestra)
•    Martijn Dendievel (Hof Symphony Orchestra / from 2026 Flanders Symphony Orchestra)
•    Valentin Egel (Croatian National Theatre Rijeka)
•    Gábor Hontvári (Nordhausen Theatre / Loh Orchestra Sondershausen)
•    Marie Jacquot (Royal Danish Opera Copenhagen / from 2026 WDR Symphony Orchestra) 
•    Johannes Klumpp (Folkwang Chamber Orchestra / Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra)
•    Martin Rajna (Hungarian State Opera, from 2026 also Philharmonie Luxembourg)
•    Clemens Schuldt (Munich Chamber Orchestra / Orchestre symphonique de Québec)
•    Lorenzo Viotti (Gulbenkian Symphony Orchestra Lisbon / Netherlands Philharmonic and Opera    Amsterdam / from 2026 Tokyo Symphony Orchestra) / from 2026-27 also Zurich Opera)

The three pillars of this highly practical training programme: 

•    The in-house “Orchestra for Practical Conducting Lessons” (OPD), generously supported by external sponsors and comprising around 40 instrumental students, is one of the building blocks of Weimar's educational cosmos: About four times per semester, it offers conducting students the opportunity to work on standard repertoire not only with piano accompaniment, but also under real rehearsal conditions, allowing them to try things out and experiment in a ‘protected space’

•    The main professional partners of the conducting classes are Thuringian orchestras, first and foremost the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, closely followed by the Thuringia Philharmonic Orchestra Gotha-Eisenach and the Weimar State Orchestra. Students regularly conduct these high-ranking professional orchestras during rehearsals and performances.

• Excursions and study trips lasting several days to other orchestras and theatres in Germany and abroad form the third pillar. Practical partners in the areas of musical theatre, symphonic music and chamber orchestra include the Landestheater Coburg, the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau, the Hofer Symphoniker, the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim and three orchestras in Czechia (Hradec Králové, Karlovy Vary, Teplice), usually with final concerts or opera performances. 

Here, too, both conducting professors usually supervise the rehearsals and concerts. The Weimar students appreciate this:

‘The students who graduate here in Weimar already have an incredible amount of orchestral experience.’

‘The amount of practical experience here is much more extensive than at my previous music college. Weimar is the top address in Germany.’

In addition to guest lecturers from Milan, Amsterdam, Vienna and Vancouver, students from the instrumental classes for solos are also involved in the practical projects, which further increases the interdisciplinary benefits of training at the Weimar University of Music. This requires a great deal of coordination and organisation, but is successfully mastered thanks to short, well-maintained communication channels.

Conducting professors Gregor Bühl and Ekhart Wycik share the teaching work within the Institute for Conducting and Opera Coaching: they teach the class together. All students benefit from their close collaboration and international expertise in symphonic and musical theatre repertoire. In addition, all students on the orchestral conducting course also take lessons in choral conducting with Prof. Jürgen Puschbeck. 

The integrative and interdisciplinary principle of ‘everything as a team’ and the joint practical lessons create excellent opportunities for the students. These are two of the many keys to the success of the ‘Weimarer Dirigentenschmiede’.