The German conductor Lutz Rademacher has died unexpectedly at the age of 56. The news was confirmed by the Landestheater Detmold, where he served as General Music Director from 2013 to 2021 and led the house’s symphonic orchestra. In a statement, the orchestra expressed “great shock” at his passing, highlighting his warm, communicative presence and his constant openness to the ideas of the musicians. “Our sympathy goes to his wife and children,” they added. Rademacher was married to the actress Helene Grass, daughter of Nobel Prize–winning author Günter Grass.
Born in Lübeck in 1969, Rademacher studied piano and conducting with Klauspeter Seibel at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. After early positions in Coburg and Halberstadt, he became assistant to the chief conductor at Theater Basel in 2003. From 2005 to 2006 he worked as head of music studies and musical assistant at the Bayreuth Festival, and in 2007 he was appointed First Kapellmeister and deputy General Music Director at Theater Freiburg.
During his tenure in Detmold, Rademacher led a wide range of opera and concert projects. In 2017 he conducted a large-scale regional performance of Mahler’s Second Symphony, bringing together the theatre’s orchestra, the Detmold Chamber Orchestra, several local choirs, and soloists Megan Marie Hart and Janina Hollich. The production was noted for its scale and for bringing institutions across the region together.
After leaving the Landestheater Detmold in 2021, Rademacher devoted himself to freelance projects. That same year he joined the Advanced Fellowship Programme at the University of Hamburg, where he collaborated with composer Gordon Kampe on the song cycle O Seufzen, Heulen, Herzensknall – Love is all we need! It was premiered in June 2022 in Hamburg by Ensemble Radar with countertenor Daniel Gloger and soprano Lini Gong. In 2022 he also conducted the stage premiere of Schorsch Kamerun’s interpretation of Purcell’s King Arthur.
Alongside his conducting career, Rademacher worked as a teacher and lecturer, including appointments at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. He lived in Berlin, where he continued his freelance work until his death on 20 November 2025.
Subscribe to our newsletter