Joana Mallwitz studied conducting with Martin Brauß and Eiji Oue and piano with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and Bernd Goetzke at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover.

After several years as Kapellmeister at the Theater Heidelberg, she took up her first directorship at the Theater Erfurt in the 2014/2015 season as Europe's youngest General Music Director at the age of 27. From 2018 General Music Director at the Staatstheater Nuremberg, Joana Mallwitz was awarded "Conductor of the Year" for 2019.

Since her acclaimed debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2020 with Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte", Joana Mallwitz has been one of the outstanding conductors of her generation. From the 2023/24 season, she will be chief conductor and artistic director of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin.

The Hungarian Iván Fischer is one of the world’s most visionary and successful orchestra conductors. In 1983 he founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra in his homeland, which he still heads today as musical director. From 2012 to 2018, he was principal conductor of the Konzerthausorchester. During this period, he saw many exciting concepts through to fruition, including surprise and request concerts, composer marathons and the innovative series “Mittendrin – Right in the Middle” at the Konzerthaus. From the 2018/19 season, he will continue his close collaboration with the Konzerthausorchester as its honorary conductor.