Curriculum Vitae
Born in Regensburg, Germany, in 1983, Martin Wettges has been chorus director of the Norwegian National Opera (Den Norske Opera & Ballett) in Oslo since 2018. Previously he held the same position at Opera North in Leeds (UK), touring to Aldeburgh Festival, Royal Opera House Belfast, The Lowry Lyric Theatre Manchester, Theatre Royal Newcastle and Theatre Royal Nottingham. In 2015 he joined the Meininger Staatstheater where he regularly conducted the Meininger Hofkapelle in symphony concerts and opera performances.
Martin Wettges graduated in conducting from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, Universität für Musik Wien and College-Conservatory of Music Cincinnati. Besides, he studied philosophy, musicology and music pedagogy at the Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. He received scholarships from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, the University of Cincinnati, the Mark-Lothar-Stiftung and the Richard-Wagner-Foundation, Bayreuth.
Wettges has worked with major choruses, including Chor der Herrenchiemsee Festspiele, Münchner Motettenchor, Münchner Konzertchor, Chor des Staatstheaters am Gärtnerplatz, Kinderchor der Bayerischen Staatsoper, Münchner Knabenchor, Chor der Bayerischen Theaterakademie August Everding, Südtiroler Kammerchor and Suhler Singakademie. As artistic director of the international chorus festival „Various Voices“ he conducted a performance of Carmina Burana featuring 5000 singers in Munich in 2018.
He conducted leading orchestras, such as the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional del Perú in Lima, the Orquesta de la Ciudad de Lima, Münchner Sinfoniker, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Oslo Symfoniorkester, the Bad Reichenhall Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre de la Région Réunion. In 2015 he toured to Antananarivo, Madacasgar, to perform Haydn’s Schöpfung with members of the Deutsche Oper Berlin orchestra and local choruses. Since 2017 he has regularly been invited to work with the intercultural contemporary music chamber orchestra Bridges/Frankfurt and conducted the ensemble upon invitation of the German government for chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.
Since 2009 Wettges has been music director of Opera Mauritius. Besides, he was guest conductor for the opera houses in Berlin (Staatsoper unter den Linden), Coburg, Eisenach, Graz, Karlstad (Sweden), Leipzig, Lima, Munich (Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz) as well as for Münchner Biennale and the Münchner Opernfestspiele der Bayerischen Staatsoper.
Wettges was lecturer of conducting at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München (2008-13) and taught in the musicology department at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, for Talent Norge/Dirigentforum kor, at Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding (Munich), at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, at the College-Conservatory of Music Cincinnati, at the Conservatoire de la Région Réunion and at the Conservatoire Frédéric Mitterand in Mauritius.
As editor of critical editions Wettges has been collaborating with Boosey & Hawkes, Breitkopf & Härtel and Edition Gravis. His musicological articles were published in Archiv für Musikwissenschaft, Diskussion Musikpädagogik and Lexikon des Orchesters.
Wettges has been artistic director of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes music academy in Brixen/Südtirol since 2011.
From September 2023 he will be a lecturer for conducting at the Basel Academy of Music, Klassik.
MA Specialised Performance | Choral Conducting
DAS Choral Conducting
The Tempest
Choir and orchestra concert under the direction of Martin Wettges (4.5.2024, Martinskirche Basel)