BIOGRAPHY (English)

Marc L. Vogler is a German composer, pianist, and conductor. He was awarded the German Music Competition 2022 in the composition category and has served as Composer in Residence at Dortmund Opera since 2024. In 2026, he composed the official anthem for the FEI World Championships 2026.

Olivier Latry described his music as “icily full of truth,” while the German newspaper RP called him “a pioneer in compositional terms.” Alongside a wide range of instrumental and vocal works, his particular passion lies in opera and contemporary music theatre.

Born in 1998, Vogler began studying piano at the age of four. At sixteen, he composed his first opera, Streichkonzert, which premiered in 2016 at Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen. In the same year, he began his composition studies with Manfred Trojahn at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf and conducting studies with Christian von Gehren. After further studies with Brigitta Muntendorf and Miroslav Srnka at the Cologne University of Music and Dance, he completed his Master's degree in 2023.

His works have been performed by leading festivals and institutions, including the Theater an der Wien, the European Classical Festival, the Philharmonic Halls of Essen and Cologne, the operas of Dortmund and Bielefeld, and New Opera West Los Angeles. As a composer and conductor, he has collaborated with distinguished orchestras and soloists such as the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra, cellist Benedict Klöckner, the Niederrheinische Sinfoniker, and Ensemble Musikfabrik. Vogler performed his anthem for the FEI World Championships 2026 himself at the grand piano during the opening ceremony on August 11, 2026, before a sold-out audience in Aachen’s Allianz Park stadium and live on German television (WDR).

Vogler is especially drawn to unconventional formats. In 2023, he staged his opera Felix Krull during the regular operation of Cologne’s Excelsior Hotel Ernst, transforming the hotel's lobby, corridors, and suites into an operatic performance venue for the first time. During the 2020 lockdown, he published an excerpt from his Corona Requiem on advertising billboards throughout Gelsenkirchen to provide barrier-free access to culture. For the UNESCO World Heritage candidacy of France’s historic Cordouan Lighthouse, he had a piano transported by sea to the lighthouse itself in order to premiere his composition on site.

In 2017, Der Spiegel dedicated a portrait interview to him. He has also contributed articles to publications including Opernwelt, Die Deutsche Bühne, and Neue Musikzeitung (NMZ). His music has been broadcast on WDR 3, Deutschlandfunk, and WDR television, and has been performed internationally in France, Italy (including Milan Cathedral), Austria, Turkey, South Africa, the United States, and Japan. In addition to the German Music Competition, he is a prizewinner of the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition 2022 and received an award through the Berlin Philharmonic's Opus One 2020 program.