Conductor Leslie Suganandarajah is a natural communicator who brings abundant charisma, energy, and sensitivity to his performances both on the symphonic and operatic stages. Music Director of the Salzburg Landestheater since 2019, he will conduct new productions of Der Fliegende Holländer, Eugene Onegin, and V. & K. Bhatti’s Berlin Alexanderplatz there this season. Additional highlights of 2025–26 include a debut at Volksoper Wien leading J.Strauß / M. Eisenreich’s Aschenbrödels Traum, and returns to the BBC Philharmonic.  

Alongside his operatic activities, he is in growing demand as a symphonic conductor. Recent appearances include Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony, Norwegian Radio, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, MDR Sinfonieorchester, Ulster Orchestra, and London Mozart Players. Following an impressive debut with Chineke! Orchestra at the South Bank Centre, he was immediately re-invited to lead a tour in Europe, performing at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Bozar in Brussels, and Frankfurt’s Alte Oper.

Suganandarajah has held Kapellmeister positions in Koblenz and Linz prior to his tenure in Salzburg, working on a wide range of German repertoire, notably Strauss (Ariadne auf Naxos, Rosenkavalier, Elektra), Mozart (Figaro, Zauberflöte) and Wagner (Lohengrin, Parsifal), as well as Puccini, Bizet, Verdi and Stravinsky.

As a young child, Suganandarajah’s family fled the civil war in Sri Lanka and settled in Germany, where he began lessons in piano, flute and organ. He studied at the Musikhochschules in Hannover and Lübeck and completed his conducting studies at the Musikhochschule Franz Liszt in Weimar. He was accepted onto the Deutsche Dirigentenforum in 2011 and was awarded the Hermann-Hildebrandt Scholarship for young conductors, leading to his appointment as Assistant Conductor to Michael Sanderling and the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2014–15 season.