Nathalie Stutzmann

Nathalie Stutzmann is the music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the second woman in history to lead a major American orchestra. She is also the principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Stutzmann made her spectacular debut at the 2023 Bayreuth Festival with Wagner’s Tannhäuser, with BR Klassik noting they had “never experienced such a standing ovation at a pit debut in Bayreuth." Oper Magazin described her as a true possessor of “the Bayreuth gene.” The same performances resulted in her being named “best conductor” in the 2024 Oper! Awards.

The 2022-23 season saw her acclaimed debut at the Metropolitan Opera with productions of both Die Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni. The New York Times called it “the coup of the year.”

During the 2023-24 season, she led the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 12 programs spanning some of her favorite core repertoire, from Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, and Ravel through the large symphonic forces of Mahler, Strauss, and Tchaikovsky, along with a Bruckner festival marking the composer’s 200th anniversary, and a West Coast tour. With the Philadelphia Orchestra, she returned to New York for her much-anticipated Carnegie Hall debut.

As a guest conductor, Stutzmann made her debut with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and returned to the London Symphony Orchestra for Bruckner’s Te Deum and his seventh and ninth symphonies. She conducted Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer for Teatro Regio Torino and returned to Bayreuth in the summer of 2024. Throughout the season, Stutzmann had a strong presence at the Philharmonie de Paris, where she appeared with the Orchestre de Paris and Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, and chaired the jury for the La Maestra Conducting Competition.

Stutzmann was awarded the 2023 Opus Klassik Award for concerto recording of the year for her recording of Glière and Mosolov harp concertos with Xavier de Maistre and the WDR Sinfonieorchester. In 2022, she released a recording of the complete Beethoven piano concertos with Haochen Zhang and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Gramophone praised it as “a brilliant collaboration that I urge you not to miss,” and Classics Today called it a “modern reference version.” Stutzmann is an exclusive recording artist for Warner Classics/Erato.

Stutzmann began her studies at a young age in piano, bassoon, and cello and studied conducting with the Finnish teacher Jorma Panula.

As one of today’s most esteemed contraltos, she has made more than 80 recordings and received numerous prestigious awards. Recognized for her significant contribution to the arts, Stutzmann was named "Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur," France’s highest honor, and "Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" by the French government.