Benedikt Sauer

Benedikt Sauer, born in Frankfurt/Main,began his musical education in the study of piano and organ, obtaining numerous awards. He also studied violin and voice, furthermore, he specialized on Lied – accompaniment, attending masterclasses with Graham Johnson, Julius Drake and Irwin Gage. In 2009 he began his conducting studies at the Conservatory “G.Verdi” Milan, where he graduated in 2013.

He participated in numerous masterclasses with renowned conductors such as Mikhail Jurwoski, Riccardo Frizza, Donato Renzetti, Maurizio Arena, Gregory Vajda, Zsolt Hamar, Jorma Panula and Lior Shambadal and completed his studies in contemporary music in courses of the Peter-Eötvös-Foundation, the Bartók-Festival and the Divertimento Ensemble, meeting famous conductors and composers, including Peter Eötvös and MatthiasPintscher.

Throughouth is training, he enjoyed the support of Carlo Franci inform of several private lessons, who imparted in him a profound understanding of the Italian opera tradition. His participation in many rehearsals with Nikolaus Harnoncourt led him to acquire a thorough grounding in the music of the 18th century, especially in Viennese classicism. Since January 2016 he studies privately with Oleg Caetani, who’s assistant he has also been in several occasions. Furthermore, he enjoys the support of Rinaldo Alessandrini, with whom he has studied several pieces of the baroque period. Since 2018 he is linked asassistant to Riccardo Minasi, for whom he has worked at the “Les pêcheurs de perles” production, that saw the participation from Placido Domingo. During his studies he has been selected to lead the preparation of the conservatory’s production “Rigoletto” for the Verdi bicentenary in January 2013. He had the opportunity to deepen his opera knowledge at the Frankfurt Opera, guided by Felice Venanzoni.

He has been assistant in various opera productions in Germany and Italy, such as “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” (Bologna, May 2016), “Don Giovanni” (Essen, April2016) and Gluck’s “Orfeo” at Styriarte Festival Graz (July2016). At Teatro “Verdi” Trieste he has been assistant conductor for the 2017 production of Bizet’s “Les pêcheurs de perles” and the 2018 production of “Così fan tutte”.

2018 he has worked as assistant at the Mariinsky Theatre St.Petersburg and – in the summer – at the Salzburger Festspiele.

He regularly conducts at Kurtheater Bad Ems, where he debuted in 2013, enjoying great success with “La Traviata”, in the following year with “Le nozze di Figaro” and 2017 with “Così fan tutte”. For these production she has been also casting director.

InOctober 2016, he conducted a well acclaimed “Don Giovanni” production at Ekhof-Theater Gotha.

An intense collaboration links him with Opera Classica Europa and its academy, where he has conducted concerts and various operas such as “LaBohème”, “DonPasquale”, “Così fan tutte”, “Die Zauberflöte”, “Nabucco” and “L’elisir d’amore”. On several occasions, he has also hosted concert evenings there.

He conducted sacred music in Italy and Germany. He regularly works at Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz, conducting severalrecitals,including the two piano concertos by Chopin and works by Richard Strauss.

He collaborated with various orchestras and choirs, including the “Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana”, the “Thüringen Philharmonie”,the children’s choir of the Teatro Comunale of Bologna, the Orchestra “Sancta Jerusalem”, the Symphonic Orchestra “Mendelssohn” and the ”Ensemble Mignon”. The latter, using period instruments, he founded in January 2015 due to his special interest for historical informed performance.

He collaborates frequently with various Theaters, such as Teatro Elfo Puccini Milano and Teatro Nazionale Milano.

In April 2018 he conducted “Rigoletto” with great success at Easter Festival Kiev.

His next engagements will bring him to Prague, Milano, Kiev and Montecatini.

In addition to his musical endeavors, he has achieved a degree in Classics at the University of Bologna.