ILYICH RIVAS
CONDUCTORManaged in association with Nicholas Mathias Ltd.
![llyich Rivas 3 ©Aude Boissaye, 2023 1080](https://imgartists.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/llyich-Rivas-3-©Aude-Boissaye-2023-1080.jpg)
ILYICH RIVAS
CONDUCTOR
Managed in association with Nicholas Mathias Ltd.
ABOUT
Venezuelan-born American conductor Ilyich Rivas made his professional debut at the age of 16 in front of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and has subsequently made successful debuts with a number of important orchestras in Europe and the US, including the London Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Stuttgart Radio Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hanover, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon and the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia.
Ilyich Rivas worked as Assistant Conductor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, culminating in his official debut in their subscription series at the Royal Festival Hall. He was also awarded the two-year position of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Peabody Institute Conducting fellow, studying conducting at the Peabody Conservatory under the guidance of legendary pedagogue Gustav Meier, and working closely with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony, again including in subscription concerts. He was invited by Michael Tilson Thomas to conduct the YouTube Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House, and has additionally gained significant experience with young players and student ensembles, having conducted the Verbier Festival Orchestra, the orchestras of London’s Royal College of Music and the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne, the Youth Orchestra of the Americas and the Youth Orchestra of Bahia, Brazil.
Highlights of recent seasons include his debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, Auckland Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Enescu Philharmonic, Israel Symphony, Slovak State Philharmonic, Poznan Philharmonic, Norrkoping Symphony, Uppsala Symphony, Brno Philharmonic, Cameristi della Scala, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, as well as performances at the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hanover. More recent engagements include his hugely successful Paris debut with the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France at the Paris Philharmonie, and also the National Symphony Orchestra (formerly RTE) in Dublin.
Ilyich Rivas has also developed a notable expertise as an operatic conductor. Following a three year mentoring programme under conductor Vladimir Jurowski at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, he was invited to conduct full productions for Glyndebourne on Tour of Le nozze di Figaro and Hänsel und Gretel in consecutive seasons. He made an impressive debut with the UK’s Opera North conducting performances of La Boheme, and recently debuted with the Netherlands Reisopera in a country-wide touring production of La Traviata.
Ilyich Rivas comes from a distinguished musical family, and studied conducting from an early age with his father Alejandro Rivas, an orchestral conductor himself, who continues to be his principal guide and mentor. Ilyich has been awarded the Bruno Walter Conducting Prize and the Prix Julius Baer in Switzerland, given by the Verbier Festival to a musician of exceptional talent.
RECENT PRAISE
CONCERT CLASSIC
ALAIN COCHARD
“A successful first Parisian concert for this very young maestro… what a beautiful musicality, what a knowledge of the score, showing how attentive to every detail, to every desk this artist is…. Obviously, all the members of an Ondif in great shape enjoy this lively, intense and intelligent reading which legitimately convinces the audience.” [translated from French]
LA NUEVA ESPAÑA
JONATHAN MALLADA
“At the helm of the OSPA was the Venezuelan-American Ilyich Rivas, who already from the Vespri Siciliani Overture showed clearly his skills at guiding the orchestra, bringing it from the softest piano to the sturdiest forte through purposeful, well-shaped crescendos, contrasting Verdi’s most lyrical moments with those more impetuous ones. […] Rivas’s conducting was passionate and energetic, but also of great effectiveness, with a special emphasis on tempo changes and rhythm through which he succeeded in skilfully driving the OSPA […] in perfect ensemble.”
BELFAST TELEGRAPH
ALF MCCREARY
“Under the direction of the exceptionally talented young Venezuelan-American guest conductor Ilyich Rivas, the Ulster Orchestra was equal to every demand of this most exacting work.”
CLASSICAL SOURCE
“I see a great future for this young conductor. The LPO responded to his direction which is clear and unaffected and played outstandingly well.”
CONTACT
NICHOLAS MATHIAS
GENERAL MANAGER
+44 (0) 20 7957 5800
EMAIL
BEVERLEY VONG
GENERAL MANAGER
+44 (0) 20 7957 5859
EMAIL
VERONICA COLYER
SENIOR ASSISTANT ARTIST MANAGER
+44 (0) 20 7957 5817
EMAIL
ALISON HEATHER
NORTH AMERICAN ORCHESTRAL BOOKING
+44 (0) 207 957 5812
+44 (0) 775 452 3450
EMAIL