One of three children born to a Japanese pianist mother and a German violinist father,[1] Märkl studied piano and the violin as a youth.
In the U.S. he made his Metropolitan Opera conducting debut in February 1999 with Il trovatore,[3] and returned in December 2000 with Turandot.
With the ONL, he conducted several recordings for the Naxos label, including music of Claude Debussy,[5][6][7] Maurice Ravel,[8] and Olivier Messiaen.
[13] In December 2023, the Residentie Orchestra announced the appointment of Märkl as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2025–2026 season, with an initial contract of four years.
[14][15] Outside of Europe, in October 2020, the National Symphony Orchestra (Taiwan) announced the appointment of Märkl as an artistic advisor for the period of 2021–2022,[16] and subsequently as its next music director, effective 1 January 2022.