Biography (short)

Michael Ostrzyga, composer and conductor, was commissioned by Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (Central German Broadcasting), World Symposium on Choral Music 2023 in Turkey as well as 2020 in Auckland, NZ, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Finnish YL Male Voice Choir (Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat), Latvian Youth Choir „Kamēr…“, StimmGold Vokalensemble (Bavaria), and Kammerchor Stuttgart, among others. He draws inspiration from a wide variety of sources, including natural, technological, astronomical, historical, mythological and pop-cultural phenomena and contexts. In 2025, his choral work was honored with the highly acclaimed Chorpreis der GEMA-Stiftung (GEMA Foundation’s Choral Prize), which recognizes outstanding achievements only once every four years.

Performers include the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet, Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Rundfunkchor Berlin, New Dublin Voices, Kammarkören Pro Musica and Allmänna Sången (Sweden), The Esoterics (USA), the Australian Chamber Choir, Chorwerk Ruhr, and MDR-Rundfunkchor.

Ostrzyga presented a completion of Mozart’s Requiem fragment that, for the first time, combines musicological perspectives with historically informed music theory and artistic practice in composition, arrangement and instrumentation. Published by Bärenreiter in 2022, the edition became a bestseller and is now among the most frequently performed completions of the Requiem internationally. Three commercial recordings have been made, most recently with the RIAS Kammerchor and Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Yannick Nézet-Séguin for Deutsche Grammophon. The first recording was nominated for an Opus Klassik in 2021 in the category “Editorial Achievement of the Year”.

Ostrzyga is Music Director at the University of Cologne. From 2007 to 2019 he was conductor and artistic director of the Oratorienchor Brühl. As a guest conductor, he collaborated with ensembles like Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Bochumer Symphoniker, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, Musikfabrik, and Kölner Vokalsolisten. He appeared in festivals like Brühler Schlosskonzerte and Acht Brücken, conducting for instance Feldman’s Rothko Chapel and vocal works by Ligeti. He has also regularly commissioned and premiered numerous works by composers such as Friedrich Jaecker, Martin Herchenröder, Jan Masanetz, and Anno Schreier.

Ostrzyga has been President of the Netzwerk Universitätsmusik in Deutschland since its founding in February 2024.