Christoph Eschenbach (born February 20, 1940 in Breslau) grew up as a war orphan with his mother's cousin, the pianist Wallydore Eschenbach, in Schleswig-Holstein and Aachen. Her lessons laid the foundation for a brilliant musical career. After studying with Eliza Hansen (piano) and Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg (conducting), first prizes as a pianist at the ARD competition in 1962 and the Concours Clara Haskil in 1965 paved his way internationally.
Encouraged by mentors such as George Szell and Herbert von Karajan, Eschenbach increasingly shifted his focus to “conducting”: he was chief conductor and artistic director of the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra from 1982-1986, musical director of the Houston Symphony from 1988-1999, and artistic director of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival from 1999-2002 and musical director of the NDR Symphony Orchestra from 1998-2004, the Philadelphia Orchestra from 2003-2008 and the Orchester de Paris from 2000-2010. From 2010-2017, Eschenbach directed the Washington National Symphony Orchestra. As a counterweight to his many permanent commitments, Eschenbach consciously relies on extensive guest conducting work, including with the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the New York Philharmonic, La Scala, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo.
Christoph Eschenbach's impressive discography, both as a conductor and as a pianist, was created over the course of five decades and ranges from J.S. Bach—to contemporary music. Numerous recordings now have reference status and have been awarded prestigious prizes, including the German Record Critics' Prize, the MIDEM Classical Award and the Grammy Award. A particularly fruitful “chamber music partnership” connects Eschenbach with the baritone Matthias Goerne. Live, including at the Salzburg Festival, and now also on CD, the two congenially explore the treasure trove of German Romantic songs by Schubert-Brahms.
Christoph Eschenbach is a Knight of the Légion d'honneur, Commander of Arts and Letters, recipient of the German Federal Cross of Merit and winner of the Leonard Bernstein Prize. In 2015 he was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize as a pianist and conductor.