Johannes Fritzsch is Principal Guest Conductor of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Director of the Australian Conducting Academy with the TSO. He was appointed Conductor Laureate of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in November 2014, after his seven years tenure as their Chief Conductor and is also Professor of Opera and Orchestral Studies at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University.
From 2006 – 2013 Johannes was Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Oper Graz, Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester (Austria). Prior to his appointment in Graz, Johannes held the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Staatsoper Nürnberg.
From 1993 until 1999, he was Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Städtische Bühnen and the Philharmonic Orchestra in Freiburg, enjoying widespread acclaim.
Johannes was born in 1960 in Meissen, near Dresden, Germany, where he completed his musical education. He has conducted many great orchestras, both within Germany and internationally. These include: Hamburger Sinfoniker, Düsseldorfer Sinfoniker, Philharmonie Essen, Nationaltheater- Orchester Mannheim, Staatskapelle Schwerin, Berliner Sinfonie Orchester, Staatskapelle Dresden,
Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, Staatsorchester Halle, the Swedish Radio Orchestra, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique Strassbourg, the Orchestre National de Montpellier, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra and in Australia the SSO, MSO, ASO, TSO, QSO, WASO and OV.
Opera Companies with which he has worked include: Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden, Opernhaus Köln, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, Opera Bastille Paris, the Royal Opera Stockholm, Malmö Operan and Opera Australia in Sydney and Melbourne (including Hansel and Gretel, Wozzeck, Magic Flute, Tales of Hofmann, Lohengrin, Don Giovanni, Carmen, Tosca, Rigoletto, Der Rosenkavalier, Salome) and Opera Queensland. Johannes enjoys an ongoing relationship with the Staatsoper Hamburg where he returned in 2017 and will return in 2018.
Over the past fifteen years Johannes has given many Master classes for the German conductor training and development organisation, Dirigentenforum des Deutschen Musikrates. Similarly, he hasbeen active and enthusiastic in his involvement in Australia’s Symphony International ConductorDevelopment Program.
In December 2014 Johannes was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music from the University of Queensland and in 2015, Johannes joined the University of Tasmania as Adjunct Professor, Conservatorium of Music, School of Creative Arts (SoCA).