David Robertson

American conductor David Robertson, who was born in Santa Monica, California, in 1958, completed his musical studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London with concentrations in horn, composition, and conducting. After his early years as Resident Conductor of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, he led the Ensemble intercontemporain in Paris from 1992 to 1999 and the Orchestre National de Lyon from 2000 to 2004. In 2005 Robertson was appointed Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony (SLS), whose repertoire he has expanded with contemporary works; the SLS and its conductor have received numerous American awards for their innovative programming. Robertson additionally serves as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which he also conducted in the Last Night of the Proms in 2009. Starting with the 2014-15 season, he will succeed Vladimir Ashkenazy as head of the Sydney Symphony. Robertson regularly appears with leading international orchestras: in recent seasons he has performed with the Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras and with the New York Philharmonic in the United States, while in Europe he has led the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. David Robertson is also a high-profile opera conductor who has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, and the Bavarian Staats-oper. He is also deeply committed to the area of education and works with students at the Juilliard School, at the Paris Conservatoire, and in Tanglewood and Aspen. Robertson is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and holds honorary doctorates from several universities; in 2011 he was named “Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” in France.

LUCERNE FESTIVAL (IMF) debut on 20 August 2000 leading the Ensemble intercontemporain in works by Kurtág and Boulez.

August 2012