“A born musician…” (Chaya Czernowin, Composer)
“I must recommend this young conductor.” (Thomas Søndergård , Music Director | Royal Scottish National Orchestra)
“Here it is Kai Johannes Polzhofer who leads the ensemble with undulating and dreamy melody lines, and the emotionality of Puccini’s operatic expression is given free rein.” (Göteborgs Posten)
“The future of New Music is in best hands.” (BR Klassik | Bavarian Broadcast)
“A bright exponent of a new generation of conductors.” (Aleksander V. Alexeev †, Conductor | Honored Artist of the RSFSR)
“Kai Johannes Polzhofer lives and breathes music. […] One of the most interesting students, I have ever encountered in the conducting class.
(Michael Schønwandt, Conductor)
Award-winning Austrian-German conductor and composer Kai Johannes Polzhofer recently made his debut with the Danish Philharmonic Orchestra and has been in the past engaged by State Opera Munich, conducted a.o. the Århus Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg Opera and Ballet Theatre, worked with soloists, chorus and orchestra of Gothenburg Opera, the Mariinsky Theatre as well with leading ensembles of the contemporary music scene such as Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet, Ensemble Recherche, and the JACK Quartet. He founded and co-founded a.o. cultural initiatives the Du Bois Orchestra at Harvard (fighting racism, class- and gender discrimination through classical music), forma Leipzig, received as conductor and composer various national and international awards, as well public and private stipends. He serves as associate of the journal Musik&Ästhetik and his music is published by Edition Gravis (Berlin). He was invited to study with Paavo and Neeme Järvi, Jorma Panula, and Daniele Gatti at Chigiana, and serves as Artistic Director of the Austrian-Danish Klar!Festival.
Saint Petersburg State Conservatory N. Rimsky-Korsakov (Spezialist)
National Solist Class, Royal Danish Conservatory (Soloist Diploma)
Harvard University (Doctorate, MA)
Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (MA, BA)
University Leipzig (BA)
University of Performing Arts Graz (KUG Graz).