Alan Gilbert

He played the violin and violin as a child and was initially taught by his parents. After school, he studied composition at Harvard and violin at the New England Conservatory of Music. Alan Gilbert graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Juilliard School of Music. First he was a violin and viola player in the Philadelphia Orchestra for two years. Then, in 1993, he became second concertmaster of the Santa Fé Opera Orchestra. Back in 1994, he won the Concours de Genève in the "Orchestra Conducting" category at the international music competition for piano, singing and other musical instruments in Geneva. From 1995 to 1997 he was assistant conductor of the symphony orchestra in Cleveland, Ohio, under the German Christoph von Dohnányi. In 2000 Alan Gilbert became chief conductor and artistic advisor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. From then on he had a lightning career, especially as a guest conductor. The following year he played for the first time with the New York Philharmonic, which his mother also supported musically. During this time, his father ended his engagement as a violinist there. Two years later, in 2003, Gilbert also took over the musical direction of the Santa Fe Opera. Since 2004 he has been principal guest conductor with the Hamburg NDR Symphony Orchestra. He has successfully toured several times with this formation. His other appearances as a guest conductor include renowned and well-known orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchester de Paris, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra or the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Critics attest to the conductor's refreshing approach to his work. In 2008 he resigned from the post of chief conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. Alan Gilbert made his debut at the Vienna State Opera with Georg Bizet's opera "Carmen". Shortly before his appointment as principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic, he was appointed permanent guest conductor. When he was appointed conductor there from the 2009/10 season, he succeeded the then 77-year-old Lorin Maazel, who had held this position since 2002. The Italian conductor Riccardo Muti (70) and the general music director of the Berlin State Opera, Daniel Barenboim (69), were previously considered for the new line-up. With Alan Gilbert there is a generational change in the leadership of the New York orchestra. Alan Gilbert's recordings have been nominated for a Grammy Award. His conducting of Mahler's "Symphony No. 9" received top reviews from the press and specialist magazines. In May 2010 he became an Honorary Doctor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music. In September 2011, Alan Gilbert was appointed Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at the renowned Juilliard School.