Michael Metzler

Michael Metzler is a specialist in historical percussion: he studied music in the percussion class of the Leipzig Musikhochschule with Hermann Naehring and continued his studies with a specialisation in ethnic percussion with Ahmed Subhy in Cairo and with Glen Velez in New York. 

His worldwide concert activities began in 1997 and include more than 150 CD productions as well as numerous radio, theatre and film music projects, including for the Berlin State Opera, the Semperoper Dresden, the Basel Theatre, the Hebbel Theatre Berlin and the BBC. 

In recent years, Michael Metzler has performed on Europe's greatest stages and concert halls, including with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the choreographer Sasha Waltz, the Musiciens du Prince under Cecilia Bartoli, as well as at the Sydney Festival (with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin), in Brazil and Southeast Asia (with Elbipolis), the Bach Consort Wien and the Hilliard Ensemble.

Michael Metzler also comes from a foundry family. Since 2001, he has been involved in the casting of historic bells and chimes and runs a shop for bells and percussion instruments. 

In 2019, he played with violinist Daniel Hope at New York's Carnegie Hall as part of an extensive tour of the USA. In addition, there were various opera productions at the Berlin State Opera, the Hamburg State Opera and the Theater an der Wien. 

In the same year, he composed and conceived the piece "Ali Baba and the Forty Robbers" together for MDR and the MDR Children's Choir. 

In this year's concert season, Michael Metzler is touring with his sons Peter and Sascha with a pure percussion programme. At the Oldenburg State Theatre he can be seen on stage and on baroque percussion in the German premiere production of Rameau's "Les Boreades".