Next Step
Conducting Alumnus Friedrich Praetorius to Become General Music Director at the Staatstheater Braunschweig
A graduate of the “Weimar Conducting Academy” is taking a major career step: A few days ago, Friedrich Praetorius was unanimously selected by a selection committee to become the next General Music Director of the Staatstheater Braunschweig. For his first premiere in his new role at the podium of the Braunschweig State Orchestra, he will conduct Carl Maria von Weber’s opera “Der Freischütz” in the fall of 2026. In a press release, the designated GMD stated: “This institution, its orchestra, its ensemble, and the entire city have welcomed me with great openness, curiosity, and artistic energy. I am all the more eager to shape the coming seasons, provide new impetus, and at the same time carry on Braunschweig’s great musical tradition.”
“Friedrich Praetorius has built an already impressive career through diligence, discipline, resourcefulness, and heart,” says his former Weimar major professor Prof. Ekhart Wycik. “It began as Kapellmeister at the DNT Weimar, then led via the position of Kapellmeister at the Städtische Bühnen Chemnitz to the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he has been working since 2024/25 as a conductor and assistant to GMD Donald Runnicles. Concurrent with his appointment in Braunschweig, he will be named Principal Guest Conductor at the Leipzig Opera.”
Friedrich Praetorius was born in 1996 in Lutherstadt Wittenberg and received his first musical training as a member of the St. Thomas Choir in Leipzig. Beginning in 2015, he studied orchestral conducting for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the FRANZ LISZT University of Music in Weimar under Prof. Nicolás Pasquet, Prof. Gunter Kahlert, and Prof. Ekhart Wycik. In 2018/19, he completed an Erasmus exchange with Prof. Agiman at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan (Italy). He gained further inspiration through masterclasses with Christian Thielemann, Johannes Schlaefli, Ole Kristian Ruud, Arthur Fagen, Stefan Blunier, Johannes Klumpp, and Georg Christoph Biller.
The 29-year-old is now considered one of the leading conductors of the younger generation. For the 2024/25 season, he was appointed Kapellmeister and assistant to Donald Runnicles at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Previously, he served as Kapellmeister at the German National Theater in Weimar and the Theater Chemnitz, among other positions. Friedrich Praetorius was a prize winner at the prestigious German Conducting Award 2025. He also attracted international attention by winning first prize at the 10th Competition for Opera Conductors in Orvieto (Italy). In addition, he achieved success at the Campus Dirigieren 2022 competition and, since 2021, has received the Forum Dirigieren concert grant from the German Music Council.
[June 16, 2026]