James Allen Gähres


James Allen Gähres is an American conductor with an international career, based in Germany.

Biography

Gähres studied music, conducting, composition and piano at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, where he was musical assistant of the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in his final study year, and as a Fulbright-Fellowship holder with Hans Swarovsky at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He attended Master classes with Bruno Maderna in Salzburg.
He began his conducting career began after several years as a freelance composer and pianist in southern Germany. Gähres worked as a conductor at several opera houses in Germany, including 10 years as first Kapellmeister at the Staatsoper Hannover. Then he was engaged as the first conductor at the Staatstheater Braunschweig for three years. His work in Germany included conducting the German premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Candide, in the Scottish Opera version, at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, at the invitation of Götz Friedrich. He also worked regularly with the Lower Saxony Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Saarland on concert tours, in Israel, Spain, the United States, France, Great Britain and Canada.
Gähres worked repeatedly as guest conductor at the New York City Opera, the Heidelberger Schlossfestspiele, the Polish Grand Theatre, Poznan, with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Hannover, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, at the Opernhaus Dortmund, the Staatsoper Stuttgart, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and at the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples.
From 1994 to 2011, Gähres was Generalmusikdirektor at the Theater Ulm, which also encompassed the post of chief conductor of the Ulm Philharmonic Orchestra. During his Ulm tenure, Gähres founded the tradition of the New Year's concerts and of the Herbert von Karajan Memorial concerts. He recorded more than 15 CDs as chief conductor in Ulm.
Gähres was also guest conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the Leipzig Opera, the Meiningen Court Orchestra in Meiningen, the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra in Charleston, West Virginiaas well as of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Theater für Niedersachsen in Hildesheim.

Selected discography