„… Kern confirms himself here as a master of clear, resolute structuring that cleanly traces the thematic threads, leading the Philharmonie to a convincing, multifaceted interpretation of the symphony." Rhein-Zeitung

"Magical! "Magical" writes La Provence about Ulrich Kern's interpretation of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Ulrich Kern convinces with stylistically precise and profound interpretations on concert and opera stages alike. He places a special emphasis on the repertoire of the 20th and 21st centuries, to which he dedicates himself with great passion.

His repertoire includes over 60 stage works and ranges from Mozart's late operas, Wagner's Tannhäuser and Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps to Janacek's opera The Excursions of Mr. Brouček and Hans Werner Henze's last opera Gisela!, which he rehearsed at the Semperoper Dresden. The international trade journal OPERNWELT called the production of Karl Amadeus Hartmann's Simplicius Simplicissimus with Ulrich Kern conducting the "most unusual performance of the season" in its 2023 critics' survey.

As a guest conductor, Ulrich Kern has appeared with renowned orchestras, including the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken, MDR-Sinfonieorchestra, Dresdner Philharmonie, Konzerthausorchestra Berlin, State Orchestra Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt, Ensemble Resonanz Hamburg and Stuttgart Philharmonic. He conducts in renowned concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Gewandhaus Leipzig and the Tonhalle Düsseldorf. In the USA, he made his debut with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra in 2009, and in 2011 he made a guest appearance with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra in France. Engagements have taken him to theatres in Bremen, Bielefeld, Osnabrück and the Salvador State Theatre in Brazil.

Ulrich Kern is a regular guest at international festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival (Colorado), the Nargen Festival (Tallinn), the Ruhrtriennale, the Impuls Festival SaxonyAnhalt, the "International Days for New Music Darmstadt" as well as in important concert halls in South America such as the Teatro Solis in Montevideo and the new concert hall CCK in Buenos Aires.

In the 2025/26 season, Ulrich Kern will return to the Berliner Philharmonie, where he will conduct the Berliner Symphoniker's New Year's Eve concerts with soprano Nadja Mchantaf. Further guest conducting engagements will take him to the Dresdner Philharmonie, Brandenburg State Orchestra and the State Orchestra Rheinische Philharmonie, with whom he will also make guest appearances at the Weilburg Music Festival. At the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Theatre in Görlitz, Janáček's opera The Excursions of Mr. Brouček, Verdi's Nabucco, Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and several concerts with the Neue Lausitzer Philharmonie are the focus of his artistic work.

Ulrich Kern regularly works with outstanding soloists, including Harriet Krijgh, Anastasia Kobekina and Daniel Müller-Schott at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the pianist Martin Stadtfeld and the harpist Anneleen Lenaerts in Ghent.

Collaborating with contemporary composers is particularly important to him. In 2017, for example, he opened the Flanders Festival Ghent with the Ensemble Resonanz Hamburg with a world premiere of Kalevi Aho. In Hamburg's Laeiszhalle, he premiered works by Rebecca Saunders and Sven-Ingo Koch. As a musical highlight of the Bauhaus festival year 2019, he conducted works composed especially for this purpose with the MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig. The symphonic poem Die Regentrude by Klaus Wüsthoff, recorded with Martina Gedeck as narrator, was released as a CD recording.

Radio recordings on Saarländischer Rundfunk, MDR and concert broadcasts on SWR and NDR document his versatile artistic work.

For the CD French Trombone Concertos with Fabrice Millischer and the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken, Ulrich Kern received the German Music Prize "Echo Klassik" in 2014 in the category "Concert Recording of the Year 20th/21st Century".

Born in Stuttgart, Ulrich Kern studied at the music academies in Stuttgart and Weimar. He received important artistic impulses from Bernard Haitink, Jorma Panula and, in the USA, from David Zinman. As a scholarship holder in the Conductors' Forum of the German Music Council, he worked at the Mainz State Theatre and the Kiel Opera, among others. In 2006 he won the "Conductors' Competition of the German Music Academies", sponsored by the Herbert von Karajan Foundation in Berlin, as well as the special prize for the best opera interpretation.

Ulrich Kern is First Kapellmeister and Deputy General Music Director at the Görlitz Theatre. He has been honored multiple times with the Special Award of the Theater Association and the Audience Award for his outstanding artistic achievements. In 2025, the theater was also named the best municipal theater in Germany by the renowned magazine "Die Deutsche Bühne".