Hailed as “fearless, bold, and a life-force” (San Diego Union-Tribune) and “a brilliant and commanding conductor with unmistakable charisma” (Leipzig Volkszeitung), Ken-David Masur is celebrating his eighth season as Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony’s Civic Orchestra, his first summer as Artistic Partner with the Oregon Bach Festival, and recently concluded his tenure as Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony.
Season highlights of Masur’s 2026/27 season include a return engagement with the Nashville Symphony as well as debuts with the Houston Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Charlottesville Symphony, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, and Symphony San Jose, in addition to his weeks with the Chicago Symphony Civic Orchestra. In January 2027, Masur embarks on a tour with renowned violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter leading the Tokyo Philharmonic and the China National Center for the Performing Arts Orchestra in Beijing, and later in the season leads the Dresden Philharmonic with baritone Thomas Hampson.
Masur’s tenure in Milwaukee was notable for innovative thematic programming and bridge-building, including a festival celebrating the music of the 1930s, when the Bradley Symphony Center was built; the Water Festival, which highlighted local community partners whose work centers on water conservation and education; a new annual city-wide Bach Festival, celebrating the abiding appeal of J.S. Bach’s music in an ever-changing world. He has also instituted a multi-season artist-in-residence program, and has led highly-acclaimed performances of major choral works, including a glorious staging of the St. Matthew Passion which was summed up by the Shepherd Express as “WOW. Passion, indeed.”
Masur has conducted orchestras around the world including Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, l’Orchestre National de France, Kristiansand Symphony, NFM Wrocław Philharmonic in Poland, and Tokyo’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony. He makes regular festival appearances at Ravinia, Tanglewood, the Hollywood Bowl, Verbier, the Pacific Music Festival and the Oregon Bach Festival.
Masur is passionate about contemporary music and has conducted and commissioned numerous new works including Wynton Marsalis, Augusta Read Thomas, Unsuk Chin among others. He has recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Stavanger Symphony and received a Grammy nomination from the Latin Recording Academy for the album Salon Buenos Aires.
Masur and his wife, pianist Melinda Lee Masur are founders and Artistic Directors of the Chelsea Music Festival, an annual summer festival in New York City, with programs ranging from baroque and classical to contemporary and jazz, with a special emphasis of intersecting with the culinary and visual arts. Founded in 2010, The Festival has been praised by The New York Times as a “gem of a series” and by TimeOutNY as an “impressive addition to New York’s cultural ecosystem.”
Born and raised in Leipzig, Germany, Masur was trained at the Mendelssohn Academy in Leipzig, the Gewandhaus Children‘s Choir, the Detmold Academy and the „Hanns Eisler“ Conservatory in Berlin. While an undergraduate at Columbia University in New York, Masur became the first music director of the Bach Society Orchestra & Chorus with which he toured to Germany and recorded the music of J.S.Bach and his sons.
Music education and working with the next generation of young artists are of major importance to Masur. In addition to his work with Civic Orchestra of Chicago, he has conducted orchestras and led masterclasses at many international conservatories and festivals.
