Jun Märkl

Jun Märkl is a highly-respected interpreter of both symphonic and operatic Germanic repertoire, and is also known for his idiomatic explorations of the French impressionists. His long-standing relationships at the state operas of Vienna, Berlin, Munich, and Semperoper Dresden have been complemented by his directorships of the Nationaltheater Mannheim (1994-2000), Orchestre National de Lyon (2005-11), MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig (2007-2012), and the Basque National Orchestra (2014-17). 

He is currently holding positions with the Malaysia Philharmonic Orchestra as Music Director since 2021, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan as Music Director starting in 2022, Artistic Advisor of Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of Resident Orkest Den Haag, and the Oregon Symphony. 

He appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony, the Munich, Hamburg, and Oslo philharmonics, the Cleveland, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Montreal, Melbourne, and Sydney orchestras, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, and Orchestre de Paris. 

Jun Märkl was a regular guest at the state operas of Vienna, Munich, Berlin, and Semperoper Dresden, and was permanent conductor of the Bavarian State Opera until 2006. He made his Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut with Götterdämmerung in 1996 and with Il Trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera in 1998. He conducted complete Ring cycles at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the New National Theatre in Tokyo 2001-2004, and toured Japan with Semperoper Dresden and Wiener Staatsoper. 

Jun Märkl has an extensive discography--including more than 50 CDs. He has recorded the complete Schumann symphonies with the NHK Symphony, Mendelssohn and Wagner with the MDR, and a 9 CD recording of Debussy with Lyon which led to honors from the French Ministry of Culture in 2012 with the “Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.” Recently, he recorded 3 CDs feautring the works of Toshio Hosokawa and 4 CDs featuring rare works by Saint-Saëns. 

Born in Munich, Märkl’s father was a distinguished concertmaster, and his mother was a solo pianist. Jun Märkl studied at the Musikhochschule in Hannover with Sergiu Celibidache in Munich and Gustav Meier in Michigan. In 1986, he won the Deutsche Musikrat conducting competition and a year later won a scholarship from the Boston Symphony Orchestra to study at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. 

He is also very dedicated to working with young musicians. He regularly worked as Principal Conductor at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, the Aspen Music Festival, Colorado, and he teaches as Guest Professor at the Kunitachi College of Music Tokyo.