»As a conductor, Anja Bihlmaier is a revelation. … Her approach is not overtly expressive, but rather characterised by an ear for the long lines and the intelligent breathing of the music. Her interpretations possess structure, space and a compelling pull.« (Süddeutsche Zeitung, June 2025)

Anja Bihlmaier’s musical intuition, her inspiring charisma and her ability to combine passion with precision have made her one of the leading conductors of her generation. Since September 2024, she has been Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and has established herself as a fixture at the BBC Proms through her regular appearances.

In the 2025/26 season, Anja Bihlmaier conducts the Dresden Philharmonic and the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne for the first time. Her three-year residency at Beethovenfest Bonn with the Residentie Orkest Den Haag, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra will come to an end in 2026. Last season she made her debut with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and the Münchner Philharmoniker, both of which have invited her back. She also makes her debut this season with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Orchestre National de Lyon, and returns to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Madrid National Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berliner Konzerthausorchester, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.

Anja Bihlmaier has a wide-ranging repertoire, spanning from Haydn through Mahler, Strauss and B. A. Zimmermann to Sibelius, Bartók, Dvořák, Shostakovich, Debussy, Britten, Galina Ustvolskaya and Unsuk Chin.

In spring 2026, she conducted her first production at the Hamburg State Opera (Elektra). Over the past two seasons, Bihlmaier has conducted new productions at the Berlin State Opera (Cassandra) and the Glyndebourne Festival (Carmen) – both debuts led directly to return engagements. Early in her career, she held positions at the opera houses in Hanover, Chemnitz and Kassel, and subsequently conducted at the Vienna Volksoper and throughout Scandinavia, particularly in Malmö, Tampere and Oslo.

Bihlmaier was Principal Conductor of the Residentie Orkest (The Hague) from 2021 to 2025 and Principal Guest Conductor of the Lahti Sinfonia from 2020 to 2024. Last year, both orchestras released CDs under her baton: Ravel with the Residentie Orkest for Naïve, and Prokofiev for BIS.

Anja Bihlmaier studied at the Freiburg University of Music under Scott Sandmeier, subsequently received a scholarship at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and furthered her studies with Dennis Russell Davies and Jorge Rotter. She was then accepted into the Dirigentenforum des Deutschen Musikrats (German Music Council’s Conductors’ Forum) and received a scholarship from the Brahms Society of Baden-Baden.