Andris Nelsons
Conductor
“The greatest and brightest hope on the international conducting scene. The 30-year-old Latvian is a paragon of musicality.” Der Tagesspiegel
Andris Nelsons is one of the most sought-after young conductors on the international scene today, earning himself a distinguished name both on the opera and concert podiums.
Over the next few seasons he will continue collaborations with Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, Het Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Staatskapelle Berlin, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. He recently made his debut in Japan, on tour with Wiener Philharmoniker, and this season he will make his debut with Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.
Andris Nelsons is a regular guest at Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera New York, Wiener Staatsoper and Deutsche Staatsoper. In summer 2011 he returned to Bayreuther Festspiele as Musical Director for Lohengrin, in a new production directed by Hans Neuenfels. He returns to Bayreuth in 2012.
Nelsons has been Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra since 2008 enjoying a critically acclaimed first few seasons. With CBSO he is undertaking major tours worldwide, including regular appearances at such summer festivals as Lucerne Festival, BBC Proms and Berliner Festspiele. Furthermore, they have an exciting recording collaboration with Orfeo International: Nelsons and the CBSO are working towards releasing all orchestral works by Tchaikovsky and all those by Richard Strauss, the first disc of which was praised by The Times as: “one of the most sumptuous and refined accounts of ‘Ein Heldenleben’ ever put on to disc”. Further releases include works by Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Mahler. Over half of Nelsons’ recordings have been recognised with a Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and, in October 2011, Andris Nelsons will receive the prestigious ECHO Klassik of the German Phono Academy in the category "Conductor of the Year" for his recording with CBSO of Stravinsky’s ‘Firebird’ and ‘Symphony of Psalms’ which was released in 2010. For audiovisual recordings, he has an exclusive agreement with Unitel GmbH.
Born in Riga in 1978 into a family of musicians, Andris Nelsons began his career as a trumpeter in the Latvian National Opera Orchestra before studying conducting. He was Principal Conductor of Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie in Herford, Germany 2006-2009 and Music Director of Latvian National Opera 2003-2007.
SEASON 2011/2012
