Thomas
Wise Conductor

Thomas Wise will be the musical director of the opera division from the 2023/24 season. Born in the USA, Thomas Wise received his training at the Interlochen Arts Academy in his home state of Michigan, at New York's Juilliard School, the Cologne Musikhochschule and in London. His core conducting repertoire includes rarities such as John Blow's 'Venus and Adonis', Paul Hindemith's 'Trilogy' and George Benjamin's 'Written On Skin'. Stylistically, his range extends from Handel to Kurt Weill to contemporary music. As a Fulbright Scholar, he studied modern music with Aloys Kontarsky. The world premiere of Steffen Schleiermacher's 'Cocaine' and Jerrick Bischoff's 'Andersen's Tales' took place under his baton. Thomas Wise has performed throughout Germany with the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, at the Oslo Opera House ('Rusalka') and at the festivals in Ludwigsburg and Montepulciano. As a pianist, his repertoire ranges from Scarlatti to Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas to world premieres by Dmitri Terzakis, Reto Stadelmann, as well as first recordings by Charles Ives and Kurt Weill. He has released recordings on Arte Nova/BMG, Genuin, Capriccio, as well as Hänssler Classic. After positions at the Hamburgische Staatsoper and the Theater Bonn, Thomas Wise came to Basel in 2018 as director of studies and became head of the musical department in 2021.