New Conductor for Berlin Orchestra

Ingo Metzmacher has been appointed the new chief conductor of the German Symphony Orchestra in Berlin to replace the departing US-Japanese star Kent Nagano, the orchestra said on Friday. The 47-year-old German will take over for Nagano in the 2007/2008 season. Considered one of the most outstanding conductors of his generation, Metzmacher has been musical director of the Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra in the northern city of Hamburg since 1997. In 1998, Metzmacher was named Opera conductor of the year in the leading German opera magazine, Opernwelt. Among his greatest successes has been a series of New Year's Eve concerts in Hamburg with contemporary music. This coming season as well as his commitments in Hamburg, he will also be conducting the Amsterdam Opera orchestra. Nagano is moving to the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, southern Germany next year as general musical director where he will replace Zubin Mehta. Nagano will also be directing the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.