Andris Nelsons

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Andris Nelsons (born 1978, Riga, Latvia) is a Latvian conductor. His mother founded the first early music ensemble in Latvia. Nelsons studied the trumpet as a youth, and also sang bass-baritone, with a special interest in early music. He studied for one summer at the Dartington summer school with Evelyn Tubb. He served as a trumpeter with the orchestra of the Latvian National Opera.[1] He has also studied conducting with Alexander Titov in Saint Petersburg, Russia and participated in conducting master classes with Neeme Järvi and Jorma Panula.

Nelsons came to the attention of Mariss Jansons when he emergency-substituted with the Oslo Philharmonic in their trumpet section during an orchestra tour.[1] He counts Jansons as a mentor, and has been a conducting student with him since 2002.[2]

In 2003, Nelsons became principal conductor of the Latvian National Opera. He concluded his tenure there after 5 years.[3] In 2006, he became chief conductor of the Nordwestdeutschen Philharmonie of Herford, Germany.

In October 2007, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) named Nelsons as its 12th principal conductor and music director, effective with the 2008-2009 season. His initial contract is for 3 years.[4] The appointment was unusual in that Nelsons had conducted the CBSO only in a private concert and in a recording session, without a public concert engagement, prior to being named to the post.[2] His first public conducting appearance with the CBSO was on 11 November 2007 in a matinee concert.[5] His earlier conducting work in the UK included studio concerts with the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester, and his first BBC Philharmonic concert at the Bridgewater Hall was in November 2007.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Terry Grimley. "Andris takes the CBSO helm", Birmingham Post, 08 October 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-01. 
  2. ^ a b Charlotte Higgins. "Young Latvian steps up to lead City of Birmingham orchestra", The Guardian, 9 October 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-01. 
  3. ^ Geoffrey Norris. "The young ones seize the baton", Telegraph, 26 November 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-01. 
  4. ^ Press Release. "New direction at CBSO", Birmingham Music, 08 October 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-01. 
  5. ^ Rian Evans. "CBSO/Nelsons", The Guardian, 13 November 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-01. 
  6. ^ Tim Ashley. "BBCPO/Nelsons", The Guardian, 13 November 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-01. 

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Toshiyuki Kamioka		 Chief Conductor, Nordwestdeutschen Philharmonie
2006-present		 Succeeded by
incumbent
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