Anja Bihlmaier’s musical intuition, inspiring charisma, and ability to combine passion with precision have established her as one of the most prominent conductors of her generation. Since September 2024, she has been Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, regularly appearing at the BBC Proms.

During the 2025/26 season, she will conduct the Dresden Philharmonic and the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne for the first time. She will also continue her residency at Beethovenfest Bonn, conducting the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, with whom she will also open the Berlin Music Festival. She will also make her debuts with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and the Orchestre National de Lyon. Last season, she made her debuts with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and the Munich Philharmonic, both of which have invited her back.

Ms Bihlmaier's repertoire ranges from Haydn, Mahler, Strauss and B. A. Zimmermann to Sibelius, Bartók, Dvořák, Shostakovich, Debussy, Britten, Galina Ustvolskaya and Unsuk Chin.

In spring 2026, she will conduct her first production at the Hamburg State Opera, »Elektra«. Over the past two seasons, Bihlmaier has conducted new productions at the Berlin State Opera and the Glyndebourne Festival, with both debuts leading immediately to repeat invitations. Early in her career, Bihlmaier held positions at opera houses in Hanover, Chemnitz and Kassel. She subsequently conducted at the Vienna Volksoper and throughout Scandinavia.

She was the Residentie Orkest’s (The Hague) principal conductor from 2021 to 2025, and the Lahti Sinfonia’s principal guest conductor from 2020 to 2024. Last year, both orchestras released CDs under her direction: Ravel with the Residentie Orkest and Yeol Eum Son for Naïve, and Prokofiev with Christian Poltera for BIS.

Anja Bihlmaier studied with Scott Sandmeier at the University of Music in Freiburg, then received a scholarship at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she continued her studies with Dennis Russell Davies and Jorge Rotter. She was subsequently accepted into the Conductors’ Forum and received a scholarship from the Brahms Society in Baden-Baden.