Biography
Conductor Michael Weiger is active in Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland. Currently he is Assistant Conductor and Head of Musical Preparation at Theater Ulm and is an instructor of conducting and musical coaching at the University of Music and Dance in Cologne.
From 2003 to 2014 he was conductor of the Wuerttemberg-Allgäu Regional Symphony Orchestra.
His awards and honors include the City of Friedrichshafen (Lake Constance) Culture Sponsorship Prize and the Felix Porsch Foundation (Munich) Scholarship.
Mr. Weiger received his initial musical training at the University for Music and Theater in Munich where he majored in Organ and Church music under the tutelage of H.M. Schneidt and F. Lehrndorfer. Additionally he studied Musicology at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. He conducting studies were carried out at the Universities of Music in Basel, Zurich and Berne under the instruction of W. Böttcher, H. Stein, H. Urbanek and R. Weikert, and he studied composition with R. Kelterborn. He furthered his studies at the University of Music in Freiburg im Breisgau where he completed post-graduate work in orchestra conducting, opera conducting and harpsichord with R. Hill.
A key aspect of Weiger’s artistic concentration lies in the study of Early Music performance practice and its interpretation on original instruments. In addition, on the concert podium he has acquired a large active repertoire of romantic and contemporary symphonic and operatic works.
Among the many master classes and seminars Michael Weiger has attended were those led by N. Harnoncourt, H. Armann, B. Dickey, J. Christensen, M. Honeck, M. Boder, S. Celibidache, J. Savall, T. Hengelbrock, J. Mertin, P. Herreweghe and P. Boulez.
Countless numbers of his concerts have been recorded live by BR (Bayrischer Rundfunk), SDR (Süddeutsche Rundfung), SWR (Südwestrundfunk), ORF (Österreichische Rundfunk) und Radio France. To date his CD releases are Rossini’s “Messe Solennelle” in his own arrangement for chamber orchestra and “Cantabile” with classical works for recorder and pianoforte.
As chief conductor Michael Weiger has led the Capella Cantorum Basiliensis and the Capella Conserta Munich. Until 1994 Weiger was the artistic director of Wasserburg Summer Concerts, a festival for early and contemporary music.
Already during his studies Weiger worked as a coach and conductor at the National Conservatory of Strasbourg (France). His first theater engagement was at the Vogtland Theater in Plauen (Germany) where he was solo coach and conductor. Following were positions as musical assistant at the Musikwerkstatt Lauterbrunnen (Switzerland), as assistant conductor, solo coach and assistant to the General Music Director at Theater Augsburg (Germany) and as guest conductor for the production “The Tales of Hoffmann” at Theater Biel/Bienne (Switzerland).
His conducting repertoire includes operas such as “Salome”, “Tannhäuser”, “Das Rheingold”, “Macbeth” (Verdi), “Tosca”, “La Bohème”, “Madama Butterfly”, “il Trittico”, “Roméo et Juliette” (Gounod), “Béatrice et Bénédict” (Berlioz), “Hänsel und Gretel”, “The Black Orchid” (d’Albert), “Carmen”, “Eugene Onegin”, “Freischütz”, “Vec Makropoulos” and “Candide” (Bernstein). His Mozart repertoire includes “Zauberflöte”, “Figaro”, “Don Giovanni”, “Cosi fan tutte”, and “Idomeneo”.
In concert he has conducted symphonies and concertos from Bruckner, Brahms, Franck, Schumann, Dvorak, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Schubert, Sibelius, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Ravel, Debussy, Fauré, Glazunov, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Bach, Bartok, Stravinsky, Milhaud and many others. Weiger’s sacred repertoire includes works from composers such as Monteverdi, Carissimi, Buxtehude, Schütz, Händel, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and Rossini.
At the Coburg Regional Theatre he was the musical director of J. Strauss’ “Eine Nacht in Venedig”.
In the 2013/14 season at Theater Ulm, Weiger was the musical director for the world premier of Gerhard Stabler's “Albert E.”
In Summer 2020 he worked as the chief musical assistant at the Opera de Rouen in France
From 2009 until 2021 Weiger was also a lecturer at the State Music Academy in Trossingen.
Michael Weiger published the first edition of Charles Tournemire's Opera "La Legende de Tristan" through Belle Musique Verlag. The score and parts can be ordered by sending a mail to noten@bellemusique-verlag.com.
