Philippe Jordan

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The young Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan and son of Armin Jordan has received enormous acclaim at an early age. Principal Guest Conductor of the Berlin Staatsoper and Music Director at the Graz Opera, he now performs regularly with the most prestigious orchestras and opera houses in Europe and the United States.

Principal Guest Conductor of the Berlin Staatsoper unter den Linden, Philippe Jordan has already established himself as one of the most gifted and exciting conductors of his generation.

Philippe Jordan's musical education began with piano lessons at the age of six. At the age of eight, he joined the Zürich Sangerknaben and was eleven when he began studying violin. At sixteen, he entered the Zürich Conservatory where he obtained his diploma of piano teacher, with honors. He studied theory and composition with the Swiss composer Hans Ulrich Lehmann and continued his piano studies with Karl Engel. At the same time, he worked as assistant to Maestro Jeffrey Tate on Wagner's Ring Cycle at the Châtelet in Paris.

In the 1994/95 season, Philippe Jordan was appointed First Kapellmeister of the Ulm Stadttheater, where he conducted a large repertoire. The following year he made his debut at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. Other operatic engagements in major opera houses soon followed, including the Grand Théâtre in Geneva, the Vienna Staatsoper, the Châtelet in Paris, the Semperoper in Dresden and the Aix-en-Provence International Festival.

From September 1998 to June 2001, Mr Jordan was Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin and assistant to Daniel Barenboim, where he conducts a new productions of Milhaud's Christophe Colomb (staged by Peter Greenaway) and La Bohème.

He held the position of Chief Conductor of the Graz Opera and Graz Philharmonic Orchestra from September 2001 to June 2004.

In the 2001/02 season, Philippe Jordan made his US operatic debut conducting Samson et Dalila at the Houston Grand Opera and his UK operatic debut conducting Carmen at the Glyndebourne Festival to rave reviews. In the 2002/03 season, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera (Die Fledermaus) and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (The Magic Flute). He added to his operatic debuts Parsifal at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich in April 2004 and Ariadne auf Naxos at the Bastille Opera in Paris in October 2004. His first appearances at the Salzburg Festival took place in Summer 2004 in Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte (Vienna Philharmonic).

Philippe Jordan's orchestral engagements have included the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Staatskapelle, Vienna Symphony, Vienna RSO, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Tonhalle Zurich, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, NDR/Hamburg Symphony, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, New York's Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra and the St Louis, Seattle, Detroit, Dallas, Indianapolis, Minnesota and Montreal Symphonies.

He also appears from time to time as pianist in recital and chamber music (most notably at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg).

Highlights of Philippe Jordan's 2005-06 season include Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera, a new production of The Makropoulos Affair at the Zurich Opera, a new production of Eugen Onegin at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and a new production of Die entführung aus dem Serail in a co-production of the Vienna Staatsoper and the Burgtheater. On the concert podium, Mr Jordan will tour with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra (with dates at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival). He will make his debut with the Dallas Symphony.