YAN PASCAL TORTELIER
CONDUCTORConductor Emeritus – BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Managed in association with Nicholas Mathias Ltd.
YAN PASCAL TORTELIER
CONDUCTOR
Conductor Emeritus
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Managed in association with Nicholas Mathias Ltd.
ABOUT
Yan Pascal Tortelier enjoys a distinguished career as guest conductor of the world’s most prestigious orchestras. He began his musical career as a violinist and, at fourteen, won first prize for violin at the Paris Conservatoire, making his soloist debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra shortly afterward. Following general musical studies with Nadia Boulanger, Tortelier studied conducting with Franco Ferrara at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena.
In 2020 Yan Pascal Tortelier concluded his tenure as Chief Conductor of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra with whom he has built a very special relationship in this role over the years. Former positions have included Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Ulster Orchestra (1989-1992) and Principal Guest Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (2005-2008). He was also Principal Conductor of the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra from 2009-2011. Following his outstanding work as Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic between 1992 and 2003, including annual appearances at the BBC Proms and a very successful tour of the US to celebrate the orchestra’s 60th anniversary season, he was given the title of Conductor Emeritus and continues to work and record with the orchestra regularly.
Throughout his distinguished career Yan Pascal Tortelier has collaborated with many orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala Milan, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras.
Recent highlights include appearances with the Washington National Symphony Orchestra and his return to Tokyo with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.
Tortelier has enjoyed a long association with Chandos Records, resulting in an extensive catalogue of recordings, notably with the BBC Philharmonic and Ulster orchestras, and including award-winning cycles of the orchestral music of Debussy, Ravel (featuring his own orchestration of Ravel’s Piano Trio), Franck, Roussel, and Dutilleux. He has also conducted critically acclaimed discs of repertoire ranging from Hindemith and Kodaly to Lutoslawski, and Karlowicz. With the Sao Paolo Symphony Orchestra and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, he has recorded the Ravel and Stravinsky piano concertos and Stravinsky’s Petroushka, plus a disc of works by Florent Schmitt. Tortelier’s most recent recording for Chandos is of Roussel’s Evocations with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and CBSO Chorus.
RECENT PRAISE
VISIR.IS
JÓNAS SEN SKRIFAR
“The orchestra played admirably with great precision under Tortelier […] All kinds of details were carefully executed and the larger context was always clear. The final dance was so powerful that it will live in my memory for a long time. It can safely be said that Tortelier started his tenure with great style. (Opening concert as Chief Conductor of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra)”
PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
MARK KANNY
“Tortelier completed the concert with a magnificently conceived and performed account of the Symphony No. 5 [Sibelius]… The conductor achieved genuine grandeur in the outer movements but led the second movement with a nice light touch. Tortelier marshaled full orchestra sonorities rarely heard in Heinz Hall, with well-balanced full textures, including strong bass and middle voices, and with brass of immense dimension.”
CONTACT
NICHOLAS MATHIAS
GENERAL MANAGER
+44 (0) 20 7957 5800
EMAIL
Marie Kedroff
SENIOR ASSISTANT ARTIST MANAGER
T: +44 (0) 20 7957 5814
EMAIL