Andris Nelsons
Conductor
“The greatest and brightest hope on the international conductor's 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 Het Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Staatskapelle Berlin, Philharmonia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. Debut appearances will include the Wiener Philharmoniker at the Musikverein, Berliner Philharmoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and New York Philharmonic. He also will appear for the first time in Japan, on tour with Wiener Philharmoniker and, later in the season, for performances of Lohengrin at Tokyo Opera Nomori.
In 2009/2010, Andris Nelsons appeared at Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera New York and Wiener Staatsoper, and is returning to each house. In summer 2010 he appears for the first time at Bayreuther Festspiele as Musical Director for Lohengrin, in a new production directed by Hans Neuenfels.
In 2008, Nelsons was appointed as Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and has enjoyed a critically acclaimed first two seasons. Following a summer festivals tour in 2009, with performances at Lucerne Festival, Berliner Festspiele and the BBC Proms, Nelsons and CBSO undertook an extensive European tour in March 2010. Their summer 2010 tour includes returns to Lucerne Festival and BBC Proms plus an appearance at Berlin’s Waldbühne. They have also begun an exciting recording collaboration with Orfeo International. Releases have so far included Tchaikovsky Symphony No 5 and Hamlet Overture (recognised with a Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik) and a disc of Richard Strauss orchestral works, praised by The Times as: “one of the most sumptuous and refined accounts of ‘Ein Heldenleben’ ever put on to disc”. The latest release features Stravinsky’s The Firebird and Symphony of Psalms.
Born in Riga in 1978 into a family of musicians, Andris Nelsons began his career in music as a trumpeter in the Latvian National Opera Orchestra and has also won many prizes for his singing. He was recipient of the prestigious Latvian Grand Music Award for outstanding achievement in music in 2001 and, after graduating in the same year, he went to St. Petersburg to study conducting with Professor Alexander Titov. He has been studying privately with Mariss Jansons since 2002 and completed his tenure as Principal Conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie in Herford, Germany, in 2009. From 2003-2007 he was Music Director of the Latvian National Opera.
SEASON 2010/2011
