German conductor Maria Benyumova has established herself on international stages: her guest appearances range from the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra to the South Westphalia Philharmonic and the Northwest German Philharmonic to the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra to the Kazakh Symphony Orchestra. In the current season, she is continuing her collaboration with the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, where she conducts in the prestigious AK Classics concert series. After her convincing debut with the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, she was engaged as assistant to principal conductor Simon Gaudenz and participated in the recordings of Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 6, 7, 8, and 9. She lived out her passion for the connection between music and dance in the rousing ballet productions DanceWorks Chicago and Atlantic Ballet Canada with the Bergische Symphoniker. Her talents have been recognized through several prestigious fellowships and programs. She was selected for The Dallas Opera Hart Institute for Women Conductors 2023-24 and honored as a Britten Pears Young Artist 2023-24 in collaboration with the Royal Opera House. Her development has been further supported as one of twelve conductors funded by the Carlos Miguel Prieto Conducting Fellowship and as a Mentee Conductor in the American TAKI-Alsop Fellowship mentoring program. As a dedicated music educator, Maria builds bridges between classical music and young audiences. In cooperation with the Education Group and the Cultural Directorate of Upper Austria, she has sparked enthusiasm for the monumental sound world of Anton Bruckner in numerous children. Until 2022, Maria served as conductor and choral director at Theater Krefeld and Mönchengladbach, where she led performances of a wide range of operatic works including «Die Fledermaus,» «Die Zauberflöte,» «Norma,» «Il Barbiere di Siviglia,» «Cavalleria Rusticana,» «Gianni Schicchi,» and «Un ballo in Maschera.» During this tenure, she also conducted the Niederrheinische Symphoniker in major choral works and led numerous ballet productions. She maintains a significant relationship with the Krasnoyarsk Chamber Orchestra as their first guest conductor, focusing on classical-romantic chamber music repertoire. This collaboration has included annual concerts as part of the Europe-Siberia-Asia Festival featuring renowned soloists like pianist Eliso Virsaladze and accompanying violin virtuosos during the Viktor Tretiakov International Violin Competition. Maria’s talent has been recognized through support from prestigious organizations including the Conductors’ Forum of the German Music Council, the Bavarian Radio Choir Forum, the Alfred Toepfer Foundation, and the Liselotte Klein Foundation. Her choral conducting experience includes work with the RIAS Chamber Choir, NDR Choir, Bavarian Radio Choir, and Choir Komische Oper Berlin. She received her education in orchestral and choral conducting at the Folkwang University Essen and the University for Music and Theater Munich.