Karsten Januschke

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Karsten Januschke (born 4 March 1980 in Bad Segeberg, West Germany) is a German conductor known for his work in opera and concert. He studied in Vienna, first piano and musicology, then conducting with Georg Mark at the Konservatorium Wien, where he finished with distinction. While studying, he worked as répétiteur at the Vienna State Opera, including a children’s version after Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, and he also assisted at Theater an der Wien and the Bayreuth Festival with famous conductors such as Christian Thielemann and Kirill Petrenko.

In 2008 he became solo répétiteur at Oper Frankfurt and later Kapellmeister, building a broad repertoire that included works by Mozart and other classics. He conducted productions of Pimpinone, Die Zauberflöte, Così fan tutte, Idomeneo, La traviata, Don Carlos, Die Fledermaus and more. He also led performances of Puccini’s La bohème, Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, and Aribert Reimann’s Die Gespenstersonate.

Since 2015 he has worked freelance, based in Frankfurt. Highlights include conducting Arnulf Herrmann’s Der Mieter (world premiere in Frankfurt, 2017/18) and preparing the Philharmonia Chor Wien with Walter Zeh. In the 2018/19 season he led Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle at Frankfurt, and he conducted Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the New National Theatre Tokyo. He also oversaw the German premiere of Olga Neuwirth’s Lost Highway, and staged Tamerlano at Oper Frankfurt, Fidelio at Vorarlberger Landestheater, and Die Zauberflöte at Oper im Steinbruch St. Margarethen.

As a concert conductor he has worked with major ensembles such as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, Münchener Kammerorchester, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin, the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, and Ensemble Modern, among others.

In 2024 he conducted the first Frankfurt production of Offenbach’s Die Banditen, directed by Katharina Thoma, with a small orchestra and 22 soloists (including 11 tenors). A reviewer praised his lean, precise, energetic conducting and his ability to bring rhythm and color to the performance.

Karsten Januschke remains a versatile conductor active across Europe in both opera and concert settings.