German conductor Lothar Zagrosek began his musical career as a member of the Regensburg cathedral choir. He studied conducting with Hans Swarovsky, Istvàn Kertész, Bruno Maderna and Herbert von Karajan. After first posts as General Music Director in Solingen and in Krefeld-Mönchengladbach, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna, Music Director of the Grand Opéra Paris, Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, General Music Director of the Opera in Leipzig and Stuttgart, Chief Conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and First Guest Conductor as well as Artistic Advisor of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie.
Internationally acclaimed for his operatic work, he appeared at many leading houses including Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Royal Opera House Covent Garden and at the Glyndebourne Festival. In concert, Lothar Zagrosek worked with many of the leading international orchestras including Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Berlin and Munich Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphony, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, London Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo. He appeared at prestigious festivals such as Wiener and Berliner Festwochen, the London Proms, Munich Opera Festival and Salzburg Festival.
Lothar Zagrosek is a well-known champion of contemporary music. Several of his recordings received major international awards, including the Edison Prize, the Cannes Classical Award and the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis or were nominated for the Grammy.
Being passionate about musical education and the support of young talent, he is Patron of the "Offensive for Cultural Education" in Berlin and Chairman as well of the Artistic Advisory Council of the Conducting Forum of Deutscher Musikrat as of the jury of the German Conductors’ Award. In 2006 Lothar Zagrosek was granted the "Hessischer Kulturpreis" and was awarded the "Critics Award 2009" in the field of music for his excellent musical achievements. In 2017 he was honoured with the Officers Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.