Born 1988 in Leipzig, Michael Neumann, began his musical career in early childhood, initially on the piano and in the children’s choir of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. It was not until he was 13 that he took up the double bass, taking lessons with Thomas Schicke, who was then solo bassist of the MDR Symphony Orchestra. He soon became a member of the Leipzig Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Saxony State Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra, with which he has toured through Africa, Asia and South America.
Buoyed by his success in competitions all the way up to national level at »Jugend musiziert«, he decided to make music his profession and took up studies at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig with Prof. Frithjof Martin Grabner in 2007. While still at the university, he gained professional orchestral experience as an intern in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.
In 2011, Michael Neumann successfully auditioned for a position in the orchestra academy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, where he was able to complete his studies with solo bassists Philipp Stubenrauch and Heiner Braun. His studies were influenced by conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Bernard Haitink and Nézet-Séguin.
His first permanent position with the Hamburg Philharmonic in 2012 was followed by another temporary contract with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2014. He was then able to gather experience in opera and musicals during his permanent engagement in the orchestra of Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz, where he was Principal double bass from 2015. Since 2022 he is a member of the double bass group of the Munich Philharmonic.
In addition to his orchestral activities, Michael Neumann is a passionate teacher, chamber musician and soloist, as well as a founding member of the »Ensemble Almanach«, which devotes itself to the lied repertoire with novel instrumentation.
