Katharina Wincor & Camilla Thomas

Austrian conductor Katharina Wincor is a force on the podium and has quickly established an international reputation.
In the 2025/26 season, she debuts with the hr-Sinfonieorchester, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, The Hallé, Milwaukee Symphony, Bremer Philharmoniker, Jenaer Philharmonie, Sinfonieorchester Biel Solothurn, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, and returns to collaborate with the Sarasota Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, Altomonte Orchester St. Florian, and the Upper Austrian Youth Orchestra. Wincor also makes her debut at Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich with a new production of Hanz Werner Henze’s Die Englische Katze to mark the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
Highlights include guest conducting engagements with the SWR Symphonieorchester, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Bamberger Symphoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Utah Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (OSESP), Orquesta Sinfónica RTVE Madrid, Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra in Tokyo, and Queensland Symphony Orchestra. She has also been reinvited to work with the Museumsorchester Frankfurt, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Cincinnati Symphony,
Romanian Radio National Orchestra, Ensemble Reflektor, Klangforum Wien, and the Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM. Recent and upcoming collaborations with soloists include James Ehnes, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Daniel Müller-Schott, Julian Steckel, Alexander Malofeev, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Rafal Blechacz, Lucas and Arthur Jussen, Jean-Yves Thilbauldet, David Fray, and Anna Lapwood.
In 2024, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg’s birth, Wincor conducted a concert at the Arnold Schönberg Center, with a chamber orchestra comprised of members of the Wiener Philharmoniker.
Wincor first gained international attention as assistant conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Music Director Fabio Luisi. In 2020, she was a prize-winner at the Mahler Competition in Bamberg and was invited to the Ammodo Masterclass with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Iván Fischer, who subsequenly engaged her as an assistant for several projects with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Her early experience with the Arnold Schoenberg Chor in Vienna shaped her natural approach to working with singers. After conducting Bernstein’s Candide at the 2022 May Festival with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, she also led a production at the Salzburger Landestheater and a children’s opera at the Salzburger Festspiele.
Born and raised in Upper Austria, Wincor studied conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and the Zurich University of the Arts. She has participated in masterclasses with Riccardo Muti, Jaap van Zweden, Robert Spano, and David Zinman.

Franco-Belgian cellist Camille Thomas has been making music with radiant, instinctive joy since the age of four. Her deeply expressive performances—marked by a rare blend of technical refinement and emotional immediacy—have made her one of the most compelling artists of her generation. Whether exploring the most sorrowful corners of a score or illuminating its brightest moments, Camille brings an unmistakable sincerity and intensity that resonates with audiences worldwide.

Highlights of the 2025–26 season include performances with the Rundfunk?Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Katharina Wincor, Orchestra della Svizzera italiana with Juanjo Mena, Taiwain Philharmonic with Michael Sanderling, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra with Junichi Hirokami, Residentie Orkest with David Danzmayr, Bochum Symphony Orchestra with Gemma New, and a tour five city tour with Euskadiko Orkestra. In October 2025, Camille will curate a week of concerts at the Viva Cello Festival in Switzerland under the title Paris est une fête, featuring performances and collaborations with friends and colleagues inspired by this Parisian theme. Camille also embarks on a North American recital tour with pianist and composer Julien Brocal, performing their Rendez-vous programme at venues including the Van Cliburn Concert Series, Harvard Musical Association in Boston, and The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C and will continue to tour with clarinetist YOM, with their intimate and immersive programme.

During the 2024–25 season, Camille appeared with ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna with Kevin-John Edusei, National Symphony Orchestra Ireland with Patrik Ringborg, Hong Kong Philharmonic with Manfred Honeck, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra with Junichi Hirokami, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra with Robert Fores Veses, Istanbul State Symphony with Oksana Lyniv, Korean National Symphony Orchestra with Seokwon Hong, and Janá?ek Philharmonic with Andrey Boreyko. The season also included her debut collaboration with French clarinetist YOM at Theatre de la Ville and went on to perform at Festival 1001 Notes.

Since signing exclusively with Deutsche Grammophon in 2017, Camille has released a number of critically acclaimed albums. Voice of Hope (2020) features the world-premiere recording of Fazil Say’s Never Give Up, composed for her in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris and Istanbul. The album, released in partnership with UNICEF, reflects Camille’s belief in the power of music to offer hope and healing. Her follow-up album, The Chopin Project (2021), recorded in Paris and Warsaw during the pandemic, was praised for its lyrical intensity and emotional honesty.

Born in Paris in 1988, she studied with Marcel Bardon before moving to Berlin to work with Stephan Forck and Frans Helmerson at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik. She later continued her training with Wolfgang?Emanuel Schmidt at the Franz Liszt Hochschule für Musik in Weimar.