Rasmus Baumann is among the most versatile German conductors of his generation. Since the 2014/15 season, he has served as General Music Director of the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, the largest state orchestra in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and the opera orchestra of the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen. In this role, he has shaped the ensemble continuously and sustainably for over a decade, notably through the development of new formats such as the entertainingly hosted “Klassik_Dialoge” as well as crossover projects with techno, hip-hop, pop, and jazz. The press has particularly praised “the persistence with which Rasmus Baumann has formed the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen into an ensemble of exceptional quality.”

A particular focus of his artistic work lies in the great operatic repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Richard Strauss, Puccini, Britten, and Janáček, as well as the symphonic works of Bruckner and Mahler, whose complete cycle he has conducted.

As a guest conductor, Baumann regularly collaborates with renowned orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the radio orchestras of BR, WDR, and NDR, the NDR Radiophilharmonie, the Stuttgart and Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Hamburg and Nuremberg Symphony Orchestras, as well as numerous other ensembles in Germany and abroad. His repertoire in this context encompasses both the core classical symphonic canon and distinctive programs and interdisciplinary projects.

Baumann is also a highly sought-after conductor in music theatre. He has appeared at the Hamburg State Opera, Oper Frankfurt, Komische Oper Berlin, as well as in Cologne, Karlsruhe, Koblenz, Oldenburg, and Lucerne. The breadth of his repertoire—comprising over 80 works and ranging from Baroque opera to the modern era—once again demonstrates his versatility and adaptability.

After studying in Essen (piano), Frankfurt (conducting), and Bochum (church music), Baumann began his career at the Aalto-Theater Essen before serving as Deputy General Music Director and First Kapellmeister at the Staatstheater Kassel. As a scholarship holder of the German Music Council’s Conductors’ Forum, he was awarded a prize at the German Conductors’ Award in Berlin in 2009.

Since 2018, Rasmus Baumann has also been Professor of Conducting and Director of the University Orchestra at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts. Alongside his conducting career, he is deeply committed to the promotion of young talent.

In December 2025, his first CD, “Kurzgeschichten,” featuring his own piano compositions, was released, offering a further personal insight into his artistic work.