Lothar Zagrosek has been General Music Director of the Stuttgart Staatsoper since 1997 and from August 2006 is to be Principal Conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. He studied with Hans Swarowsky, István Kertész, Bruno Maderna and Herbert von Karajan, and was appointed Principal Conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1982, followed by appointments as Musical Director of the Paris Grand Opéra, Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and General Music Director of Leipzig Opera. His career as a conductor has taken him, among other engagements, to Vienna and Hamburg State Operas, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Frankfurt Opera, the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Glyndebourne, the Salzburg Festival, the Vienna and Berlin Festival Weeks, the Munich Opera Festival and the London Promenade Concerts. Since 1995 he has been first Guest Conductor and Artistic Adviser to the German Youth Philharmonic and a regular guest with the orchestras of Bavarian Radio, West German Radio, NHK in Tokyo, the Orchestre Philharmonique of Radio France, and the RAI Orchestra in Turin. He was named by Opernwelt as Conductor of the Year in 1997 and 1999.