Titus Engel, born in Zurich in 1975, studied musicology and philosophy in Zurich and Berlin, as well as conducting with Christian Kluttig in Dresden. He has been an assistant to Sylvain Cambreling, Marc Albrecht, Lothar Zagrosek, and Peter Rundel. His conducting debut took place in 2000 with the premiere of Benjamin Schweitzer’s Jakob von Gunten. Other important opera productions have included Weber’s Der Freischütz, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Monteverdi’s Orfeo (directed by Andreas Bode), Elena Mendoza-López’s Niebla (2007 in Hellerau), and Autland by Sergej Newski (Ruhrtriennale 2009). Engel has been musical director of the Dresden New Music ensemble courage since 2000; in 2009 he also became the ensemble’s artistic director. He has conducted prominent orchestras such as the Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris, Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, WDR Rundfunkorchester, Bern Symphony Orchestra, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Basel Chamber Orchestra, as well as many of Europe’s leading New Music ensembles. Titus Engel was a founder of the Akademie Musiktheater Heute and the Opernwerkstatt in Ligerz (Gléresse, Switzerland).