German conductor and violinist
Thomas Hengelbrock was raised in the port town of Wilhelmshaven, and he studied violin with
Berlin Philharmonic violinist
Rainer Kussmaul.
Hengelbrock worked as an assistant to
Antal Doráti,
Witold Lutoslawski, and
Mauricio Kagel, who introduced him to much contemporary music. He took up a conducting career of his own, directing the
Freiburger Barockorchester, which he co-founded and led, and
Concentus Musicus Wien, working with
Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Between 1988 and 1991,
Hengelbrock also directed the
Amsterdam Bach Soloists, and between 1991 and 1995, he formed and led the
Balthasar Neumann Choir and
Ensemble, establishing a broad repertoire that ranged from Baroque to contemporary music with a focus on authentic period practices. In 1993
Hengelbrock made his debut as an opera conductor with Gluck’s Alceste, and followed it with performances of Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride,
Mozart’s Don Giovanni,
Purcell’s King Arthur, and
Bartók’s Bluebeard's Castle, along with his own revivals of Alessandro Scarlatti’s Il Mitridate Eupatore, and Galuppi’s Il Filosofo di Campagna.
Hengelbrock was appointed artistic director of the
Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, serving from 1995 to 1998, and was music director of the Volksoper Wien from 2000 to 2003.
Hengelbrock also directed the Feldkirch Festival until 2006. In 2011, he was named principal conductor of the
NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, now the
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, which he directed until 2018, and in 2016 he was named as associate conductor of
Orchestre de Paris. His recordings have been released by Sony Classical, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Erato, and Opus Arte.