Austrian cultural manager Madeleine Landlinger will become general director of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra in November 2026.
Austrian cultural manager Madeleine Landlinger has been appointed general director of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, beginning a five-year term on November 1, 2026.
Landlinger, 50, is a trained singer and cultural manager with approximately 15 years of experience in senior orchestral positions. She has worked in Vienna, Stuttgart and Heilbronn and most recently served as artistic director of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra.
Torsten Hönig
The Nuremberg Symphony said she was elected unanimously following a selection process that involved musicians and representatives from across the organization. Landlinger said she wanted to shape the orchestra’s future collaboratively, with artistic quality, openness and public participation among her priorities.
Her appointment follows a turbulent leadership transition. Lucius Hemmer, who led the orchestra for 23 years, was relieved of his duties in May 2026 because of what the organization described as irreconcilable differences. The precise reasons for the decision remain unclear.
Hemmer’s contract had been scheduled to continue until 2032, and legal proceedings over his dismissal are still underway. Reports suggested that internal participation in decision-making was among the issues behind the dispute.
The orchestra’s musicians were closely involved in choosing Landlinger. Orchestra spokesman Sebastian Weber described the mood as one of renewal, while chief conductor Jonathan Darlington welcomed the opportunity to build the institution’s future together.
Landlinger will be responsible for artistic planning, institutional strategy, partnerships and audience development. Her immediate challenge will be to convert the current support for collaboration into a stable leadership structure.
Although her appointment gives the orchestra a new direction, it does not resolve the legal dispute with Hemmer. Landlinger therefore begins her tenure with two closely connected tasks: restoring confidence inside the organization and developing a shared artistic vision for its next chapter.
