Andris Nelsons
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Estonian-born and American-raised, conductor Kristjan Järvi is a unique musical personality pushing classical music borders with fresh ideas, charisma and technical prowess. Hailed by The New York Times as “a kinetic force on the podium, like Leonard Bernstein reborn,” Järvi has combined his classical roots and affinity for traditional repertoire with an infectious enthusiasm for creating original programs; propelling classical concert halls around the globe into the 21st Century.
Kristjan Järvi’s name has become synonymous with artistic and cultural diversity, embodied in his roles as Artistic Advisor to the Basel Chamber Orchestra and Founder and Music Director of New York’s Absolute Ensemble. His imaginative programming has been embraced by leaders of classical, jazz and world music spheres alike. Järvi’s authentic commitment to all genres is reflected in his collaborations with Arvo Pärt, Tan Dun, John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, H.K Gruber, Renee Fleming, Joe Zawinul, Benny Andersson, Goran Bregovic, Paquito d’Rivera, Eitetsu Hayashi and Marcel Khalife.
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 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.