Gerald Mair

Ländle Symphony Orchestra gets new boss

The new man: Gerald Mair takes over the management of the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra.

(Bild: Gernot Kaspersetz. )

The orchestra director of the Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra will move to Bregenz in November, replacing Sebastian Hazod, who will become director of the Musikkollegium Winterthur. 

The Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra will have a new Managing Director on November 1, 2024: Gerald Mair impressed the Board of Directors in the application process. "With Gerald Mair, we are gaining an accomplished musician and cultural manager. Thanks to his experience as founder, conductor, artistic and commercial director of various orchestras, we can seamlessly continue the successful path of the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra," says President Manfred Schnetzer.

Born in East Tyrol, Gerald Mair studied double bass and music education at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, specializing in ensemble conducting. He also completed a two-year course in cultural management. He honed his musical skills with the conductor Manfred Huss and the double bassists Hermann Eisterer (Vienna Symphony Orchestra/Concentus Musicus Vienna) and Werner Fleischmann (Vienna Symphony Orchestra).

Gerald Mair founded the Salonorchester Lienz at the age of just 17. Three years later, he became chief conductor of the Lienz City Orchestra, with which he celebrated his first professional successes outside Tyrol. At the age of 21, he conducted a two-week concert tour in China. After working as manager of the Haydn Sinfonietta Vienna and as artistic director of the Klangvereinigung Wien, Mair joined the Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra in 2020, where he was initially orchestra manager and has been orchestra director since 2022. He has also been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Lienz Symphony Orchestra since 2012.

"I feel welcome"
Gerald Mair has already held initial talks with the Board of the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra and Chief Conductor Leo McFall. "I feel very welcome and am looking forward to working with the dedicated team." He is motivated to network well and achieve something positive for the region. The 2024/25 program with popular orchestral works and rarities that has already been fixed suits him very well, says Mair: "I think it's important not just to stay in one era, but to weave the thread into the modern era and offer the audience multi-faceted evenings with a clever choice of soloists and guest conductors."