“Evan Rogister’s leadership is purely exemplary”

Evan Rogister is one of the most eclectic and versatile conductors on the international scene. A dual citizen of Germany and the United States, Rogister leads performances at some of the world’s most prestigious houses, including the Glyndebourne Festival, The Metropolitan Opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Opernhaus Zürich.

This season, Rogister debuts with The Royal Danish Opera for George Benjamin’s acclaimed Written On Skin and returns to the podium at Opernhaus Zürich for Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Evan also makes his Atlanta Opera debut leading Verdi’s La traviata, and his highly anticipated return to the Glyndebourne Festival with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

From 2018 to 2025, Rogister served as Principal Conductor of the Washington National Opera. The Washington Post consistently lauded his musical interpretation: “Rogister’s steering of the music’s violent weather had me loosening my tie, and his finely attuned management of its mess of motivic gestures and granular details was superb” (Richard Strauss’s Elektra). 

Equally at home on the concert stage as in the pit, Evan leads orchestras such as the Swedish Radio Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, l’Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Philharmonia Zürich, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, l’Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Milwaukee Symphony, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. 

In 24/25, Evan returned to The Metropolitan Opera, leading Simon Burney’s revolutionary production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and was hailed by The New York Times for “a performance that breathed naturally, exuding a sense of cheerful ease.” Other highlights included a concert of Wagner and Elgar with the Philharmonia Zürich, a return to Festival d’Aix-en-Provence for concerts with L’Orchestra des Jeunes de la Méditerranée, and his debut at the Sydney Opera House conducting Massenet’s Cendrillon, of which Limelight wrote, “the score unfailingly sounds gorgeous in the hands of conductor Evan Rogister and the Opera Australia Orchestra.” Verdi’s Macbeth at Washington National Opera was praised by The Washington Post: “Rogister coaxed bright colors from the orchestra – fabulous, hair-raising Verdian outbursts of brass and percussion were as sensitively realized as the composer’s increasingly evident narrative concerns. He was unafraid of quiet – like the gentle woodwinds that attend the ghostly procession of Banquo’s successors – and fearless when it came to Verdi’s titanic ensemble pieces.”

In the 23/24 season, Evan led Terence Blanchard’s Grammy Award-winning work, Fire Shut Up in My Bones at The Metropolitan Opera in addition to the Met’s 2024 Laffont Grand Finals Concert. Rogister returned to the Semperoper Dresden, and made a critically acclaimed debut at the Glyndebourne Festival, leading the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The Telegraph hailed “the excellent debut conductor Evan Rogister” whose performance Musical America called “top-notch,” with Opera Magazine concurring, “The OAE played with sharpness and elan under the intensely theatrical guidance of Evan Rogister. The accompagnato that precedes Anna’s ‘Or sai chi l’onore’ in Act 1 was… steered by Rogister with such penetrating insight into the feelings packed into a short span by Da Ponte and Mozart that my eyes filled with tears of emotion, before the aria had even started.”

From 2018 to 2022, Rogister conducted the Göteborg Opera’s inaugural cycle of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. The multiyear collaboration with director Stephen Langridge culminated in a new production of Götterdämmerung, coinciding with the 400th Anniversary of Gothenburg. In addition to Der Ring des Nibelungen, Rogister has conducted three other works by Wagner: Tannhäuser and Rienzi (Deutsche Oper Berlin) and Lohengrin (Bolshoi Theatre and Royal Swedish Opera).

The breadth of Rogister’s repertoire is represented by other recent productions, including a double bill of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Schoenberg’s Erwartung (Göteborg Opera and Seattle Opera); Szymanowski’s King Roger (Santa Fe Opera); André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire (Lyric Opera of Chicago); new productions of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (Royal Swedish Opera and Spoleto Festival USA); Verdi’s Otello (Berlin and Luxembourg);  Aida (WNO) and Rigoletto (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Peter Stein’s new production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (Malmö Opera). 

Dedicated to nurturing new works, Rogister led performances of WNO’s American Opera Initiative in 2023, premiering three operas by emerging composers and librettists. In addition to his collaboration in 2024 with the Met’s Laffont Competition, Evan is committed to fostering the next generation of performers, regularly leading masterclasses and coaching young artists on behalf of The Met’s Education department. As the former Principal Conductor of Washington National Opera, he initiated a partnership with the George Solti Foundation, enabling young conductor laureates to be mentored annually at WNO.

Rogister’s debut recording with Deutsche Grammophon, Follow, Poet, was released in January 2015. The album features new works by the composer Mohammed Fairouz written for mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey, with Rogister conducting the Ensemble LPR. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Rogister recorded a pioneering experience, “Beethoven in Virtual Reality: Fidelio,” in partnership with Washington National Opera and Austin Opera.

Evan Rogister currently resides in Copenhagen, Denmark, with his wife, Synne, and their two children.

Last update: September 2025

Dedicated to nurturing new works, Rogister led performances of WNO’s American Opera Initiative in 2023, premiering three works by emerging composers and librettists. In addition to his collaboration in 2024 with the Met’s Laffont Competition, Evan is committed to fostering the next generation of performers, regularly leading masterclasses and coaching young artists. At WNO, he has initiated a partnership with the George Solti Foundation, enabling one of their young conductor laureates to be mentored during a production at the Kennedy Center.

From 2018 to 2022, Rogister conducted the Göteborg Opera’s inaugural cycle of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. The multiyear collaboration with director Stephen Langridge culminated in a new production of Götterdämmerung during the 21/22 season, coinciding with the 400th Anniversary of Gothenburg. In addition to Der Ring des Nibelungen, Rogister has conducted three other works by Wagner, Tannhäuser (Deutsche Oper Berlin), Rienzi (Deutsche Oper Berlin) and Lohengrin (Bolshoi Theatre and Royal Swedish Opera).

Additional highlights of the 2022/23 season included Rogister’s Semperoper debut and a new production of Richard Strauss’s Elektra at the Kennedy Center. The Washington Post hailed, “Rogister’s steering of the music’s violent weather had me loosening my tie, and his finely attuned management of its mess of motivic gestures and granular details was superb.”

The breadth of Rogister’s repertoire is represented by other recent productions, including Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Schoenberg’s Erwartung in double bill (Göteborg Opera and Seattle Opera); Szymanowski’s King Roger (The Santa Fe Opera); André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire (Lyric Opera of Chicago); new productions of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (Royal Swedish Opera and Spoleto Festival USA); Verdi’s Otello (Berlin and Luxembourg), Aida (WNO), and Rigoletto (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Peter Stein’s new production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (Malmö Opera). Rogister made his Metropolitan Opera debut during the 2017/18 season, conducting Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

Rogister’s debut recording with Deutsche Grammophon, Follow, Poet, was released in January of 2015. The album features new works by the composer Mohammed Fairouz written for mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey, with Rogister conducting the Ensemble LPR. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Rogister recorded a pioneering experience, “Beethoven in Virtual Reality: Fidelio,” in partnership with the Washington National Opera and Austin Opera.

Evan Rogister currently resides in Washington, DC, with his wife, Synne, and two children.

Last update: September 2023