Overview

• Medieninsider reported that MDR chief conductor Dennis Russell Davies earned €420,000 in the past year, a 28% increase from €330,000 in 2023.
• The report says this is the first time a broadcaster conductor’s pay has become public, as such contracts are not routinely disclosed.
• KEF figures show ARD and Deutschlandradio maintain ten orchestras, five choirs and four big bands with roughly 2,000 permanent positions costing about €203 million per year.
• Fourteen of sixteen media-policy states are seeking a concept to reshape the ensembles, with Hamburg and Lower Saxony not supporting the effort, and some critics urging reductions in their number.
• NDR declined to reveal chief conductor Alan Gilbert’s pay, calling it market-appropriate, while MOPO reports MDR director Ralf Ludwig received €280,750 in 2024.