Since taking up the post of Chief Conductor of the Bruckner Orchester Linz in 2017, Markus Poschner and the Austrian ensemble have been thrilling audiences and critics alike. Poschner's vision of breaking new ground in Bruckner interpretation is exemplary in this regard. A highlight of this joint venture to date was the orchestra being named "Orchestra of the Year" and "Conductor of the Year" in Austria in 2020.
With the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, of which Markus Poschner has been Chief Conductor since 2015, he won the coveted International Classical Music Award (ICMA) in 2018 for the cycle of Brahms symphonies released by Sony Classical, and again in 2025 in the category "Assorted Programme" for the recording of Alfred Schnittke's Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra (soloist: Anna Gourari), Paul Hindemith's "Mathis der Maler" and "Die vier Temperamente". Together with the Orchestre National de France, Poschner was awarded the 2021 Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik for his production of Offenbach's "Maître Péronilla". In 2024 Markus Poschner received the "Special Achievement Award" from the ICMA jury for his cycle of the complete Bruckner symphonies with the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Vienna.
With the beginning of the 2026/27 season, Markus Poschner will become the new Chief Conductor of the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, with whom he has enjoyed a long and successful collaboration. Before that, he will take up the position of Chief Conductor of the renowned Sinfonieorchester Basel in 2025/26, and from 2027/28 he will also take up the position of Music Director of the Utah Symphony Orchestra, one of America's leading orchestras.
Since winning the 2004 German Conductor Award, Poschner has made guest appearances with the world's leading orchestras and opera houses, including Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Staatskapelle Berlin, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Bamberger Symphoniker, Dresdner Philharmonie, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, Staatsoper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Oper Frankfurt and Oper Zürich.
After his studies in Munich and assisting Sir Roger Norrington and Sir Colin Davis, Poschner initially worked as First Kapellmeister at the Komische Oper Berlin. From 2007 to 2017 he was Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra. In July 2010, the University of Bremen appointed him an honorary professor, as did the Anton Bruckner University in Linz in 2020.
He conducted the Bayreuther Festspielorchester for the first time in its extraordinary guest performance of Wagner's "Walküre" in Abu Dhabi in 2019. Most recently, Markus Poschner opened the Bayreuth Festival in July 2022 with "Tristan und Isolde" and returned to Bayreuth in the summer of 2023.