These concerts are the North Carolina Symphony debut of Johannes Debus.

German-born conductor Johannes Debus has been Music Director of the Canadian Opera Company (COC) since 2009, having been appointed immediately following his debut. Outside of Toronto, Debus conducts regularly at the Metropolitan Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Staatsoper unter den Linden Berlin, Oper Frankfurt, and Santa Fe Opera, among others.

Equally at home on the symphonic stage, Debus’s most recent engagements in the United States include performances with The Cleveland Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of Houston, Baltimore, and Milwaukee, and the symphonies of Seattle, Oregon, San Diego, and Kansas City. International engagements have included the ORF Vienna and Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestras, Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, Orquesta Nacional de España, and the symphony orchestras of Perth and Tasmania, Australia.

Debus graduated from the Hamburger Konservatorium before being engaged as répétiteur and, subsequently, Kapellmeister by Oper Frankfurt; there he acquired an extensive repertoire from Mozart to Thomas Adès. As an advocate for contemporary music, he has collaborated with internationally acclaimed ensembles such as Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, and Ensemble Musikfabrik. He enjoys an ongoing relationship with The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.