About

German-Polish conductor Adam Szmidt has been acclaimed as vibrant, passionate, and profound. In 2023, he has been the Resident Conductor and Head Vocal Coach at Cape Town Opera. Recent engagements include the opera houses of Heidelberg, Halberstadt, Schwerin, and Bonn.
Adam Szmidt made his debut conducting the Northern Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in one of the most prestigious concert halls of Europe, the Smetana Hall in Prague. He has since conducted orchestras such as Rhein-Main-Philhamoniker, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Pomeriggi Musicali Milano, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, National Radio Orchestra Bukarest, Nuernberger Symphoniker, The New Haifa Symphony Orchestra, Sofia Festival Orchestra, Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra, National Orchestra Constanta, Bad Reichenhaller Philharmonie, Savaria Symphony Orchestra Hungary, and Westboehmisches Symphonieorchester Bad Marienbad. Succeeding Gregor Mayrhofer as Principal Conductor, he led the German National Academic Foundation Orchestra North Rhine-Westphalia in the season 2017/18.

Mr. Szmidt studied orchestra and choral conducting at the University of Performing Arts Graz, Austria, under Johannes Prinz and Wolfgang Doerner and at the Conservatory of Music and Performing Arts in Nuremberg under Prof. Guido Rumstadt, assisting him with the production Drei Wasserspiele at Stadttheater Fuerth. His studies were supported by The German National Academic Foundation, the Alfred Toepfer Foundation and the DAAD. He participated in Master Classes with Neeme Jarvi, Paavo Jarvi, Leonid Grin, Ben Zander, Nicolas Pasquet, and Jorma Panula.

In Papua New Guinea, Mr. Szmidt performed at the National Education Conference and for the President during his civil service. He continued this engagement by working with music programs for social change in Colombia, Brazil, and India. As pianist, Adam Szmidt was a laureate of the Stuttgarter Matthaes-Wettbewerb and the National German Youth Competition.

Beyond having conducted and performed on all six continents, Mr. Szmidt also dedicates himself to teaching: In numerous Master Classes for conductors and singers, he has been sharing his insights about music, interpretation and technique. Alongside the standard repertoire, he has conducted world-premieres like the musical Shadows in Red Light by Roné Roux in Cape Town or the Piano Concerto op. 44 by Matthias Hutter. He is Artistic Director of the International Chamber Orchestra Academy in Philippsburg, Germany, and has been working on an international co- created project for sustainability and innovation, called EcoOpera.