“Evan Rogister’s leadership is purely exemplary”

Evan Rogister is one of the most dynamic and versatile conductors on the international scene. A dual citizen of Germany and the United States, Rogister has been appointed the next General Music Director of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein from the 27/28 season for an initial 5-year-term. Evan leads performances with some of the world’s most prestigious theaters and orchestras, including The Metropolitan Opera, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Glyndebourne Festival, and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

In summer 2026, Rogister returns to the Glyndebourne Festival, conducting The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Sir David McVicar’s acclaimed production of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Evan returns to the MET to lead both the Laffont Grand Finals Concert in the 26/27 season as well as an opera production in a future season. Highlights of the 26/27 season also include concerts with Det Kongelige Kapel in Copenhagen, Verdi’s Rigoletto at Teatr Wielki (Polish National Opera), Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande at the Curtis Institute of Music, and Bizet’s Carmen for Opéra National de Bordeaux.

This season, Rogister debuted at London’s Southbank Centre, leading The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in concert as part of Southbank’s Multitudes Festival, of which The Guardian wrote, “Thanks to the vitality of the playing and the paciness of Evan Rogister’s conducting, it all came together to create an immersive audiovisual experience that felt weightless and enchanting.” Evan returned to Opernhaus Zürich to lead Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and debuted at Det Kongelige Teater in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin—performances of which have been nominated for Opera of the Year.

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).

Recent highlights include his return to the Metropolitan Opera with Simon McBurney’s celebrated production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, and the Met’s 2024 Laffont Grand Finals Concert. Further engagements have taken him to the Semperoper Dresden, the Sydney Opera House, and the Glyndebourne Festival with Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

From 2018 to 2022, Rogister conducted the inaugural complete cycle of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Göteborg Opera. The multiyear collaboration with director Stephen Langridge culminated in a new production of Götterdämmerung, coinciding with the 400th Anniversary of Gothenburg. He has also conducted further works by Richard Wagner, including Tannhäuser and Rienzi at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Lohengrin at the Bolshoi Theatre and the Royal Swedish Opera.

The breadth of his repertoire is reflected in productions such as Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle paired with 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), Rigoletto (Lyric Opera of Chicago), and Peter Stein’s new production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at the Malmö Opera.

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.

A committed advocate for new works, Rogister led performances of Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative in 2023, premiering operas by emerging composers and librettists. Alongside his work with the Met’s Laffont Competition, he is deeply invested in nurturing the next generation of artists, regularly leading masterclasses and coaching sessions through the Met’s Education department.

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 holds a Master in Music degree from The Juilliard School and Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Indiana University.

Last update: June 2026