Mats Thiersch (b. 2003) is a German conductor who has served as the Music Director of the Orchestre et Chœur Symphonique du COGE (Chœurs et Orchestres des Grandes Écoles) in Paris since October 2024. Starting in September 2026, he will be a fellow at the Berliner Philharmoniker's Karajan Academy.

​

Despite his young age, he has already collaborated with several prestigious ensembles, including the Orchestre National de Lille, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra.

​

​Future highlights include his debut with the NDR Radio Philharmonic Hanover, the RTVE Symphony Orchestra in Madrid and the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto. He is also set to work at the Opéra de Dijon, assisting Joseph Bastian in the production of Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. In the summer of 2026, he will appear at Tanglewood for a conducting seminar with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In June 2026, he participated in Paavo Järvi's Conducting Academy with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.

​

​Thiersch began his musical journey at the age of six with the violin, later expanding his studies to include piano and composition. In 2021, he began studying composition under Miroslav Srnka at the University of Music and Dance Cologne (HfMT Köln). His original works have been performed by renowned groups such as Ensemble Musikfabrik and have earned him prestigious accolades, including the Composition Prize of the German Orchestra Foundation (Deutsche Orchester-Stiftung). In 2024, he was invited to the renowned Gstaad Conducting Academy, where he studied with Johannes Schlaefli and Jaap van Zweden. He is currently one of the six semi-finalists in the 80th Concours de Genève (Conducting Competition 2026). Since 2023, Thiersch has been continuing his conducting studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in the class of Alain Altinoglu. He has gained additional artistic insights in masterclasses with distinguished conductors such as Daniele Gatti, Mikko Franck, and Alexandre Bloch.