Jonathan Nott

Jonathan Nott (born 25 December 1962, in Solihull, England) is an English conductor.

Biography

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The son of a priest[1] at Worcester Cathedral,[2] Nott was a music student and choral scholar at St John's College, Cambridge,[3][4] and also studied singing and flute in Manchester at the Royal Northern College of Music. Nott was also a conducting student in London.[5] He left Britain to develop his conducting career in Germany via the traditional Kapellmeister system.[1]

Nott made his conducting debut in 1988 at the Opera Festival in Battignano, Italy. In 1989, he was appointed Kapellmeister at the Frankfurt Opera. In 1991, he was appointed Erster Kapellmeister at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, and became interim chief conductor for the 1995–96 season.[2] He later became music director at the Lucerne Theatre and served as principal conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra from 1997 to 2002.

With the Berlin Philharmonic, Nott recorded several orchestral works of György Ligeti as part of the Teldec contribution to the complete recorded works of Ligeti.[6][7][8] Nott became music director of the Ensemble InterContemporain (EIC) in 2000. He relinquished this post in 2003, and immediately took up the position of principal guest conductor of the EIC.[1] He stood down as the EIC's principal guest conductor in 2005.

Nott became principal conductor of the Bamberg Symphony in January 2000. With the orchestra, he made his New York City conducting debut.[9] Several years after his 2009 contract extension through the 2011–2012 season,[10] in 2011, Nott and the orchestra agreed on a further extension of his contract with the Bamberg Symphony through the 2015–2016 season.[11] He concluded his Bamberg tenure at the end of the 2015–2016 season. In 2014, he became principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie.[12]

Nott first guest-conducted the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in October 2011. Immediately following this engagement, the orchestra offered him its music directorship, which he accepted. The orchestra formally announced Nott's appointment as its next music director in October 2012, effective with the 2014–2015 season, for an initial contract of 3 years, conducting 8 weeks of concerts per season.[13] Tokyo Symphony Orchestra announced in September 2015 that they have extended Nott's tenure through the 2025–2026 season.[14] In April 2024, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra announced that Nott is to conclude his tenure as its music director in March 2026, at the close of his current contract.[15]

In October 2014, Nott made his first guest-conducting appearances with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR). Based on these concerts, in January 2015, the OSR named Nott its next music and artistic director, effective January 2017.[12][16][17] In February 2021, the OSR announced the conversion of Nott's OSR contract into an evergreen, open-ended lifetime agreement with no set final date.[18] In July 2023, online reports indicated a revised contract date of 2026 for Nott's post at the OSR.[19]

Nott and his wife Helen have three children.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Michael White (14 February 2006). "The Avant-Gardist in Tails". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
  2. ^ a b Richard Morrison (4 June 2010). "Jonathan Nott: the unknown Brit who's thriving in Germany". The Times. Retrieved 14 January 2011.[dead link]
  3. ^ "Jonathan Nott Music Director". Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  4. ^ "Meet the Maestro: Jonathan Nott". Rhinegold Publishing. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  5. ^ Breandáin O'Shea (29 May 2006). "Inspired Minds: Conductor Jonathan Nott". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
  6. ^ Andrew Clements (7 June 2002). "Classical CD of the week". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
  7. ^ Andrew Clements (2 May 2003). "CD Review: Ligeti: Hamburg Concerto; Double Concerto; Ramifications; Requiem: Neunecker/ Holliger/ Zoon/ London Voices/ Asko & Schoenberg Ensembles/ De Leeuw/ Berlin Philharmonic/Nott". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
  8. ^ a b Tom Service (21 January 2005). "Turn up, tune up, conduct". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
  9. ^ Maev Kennedy (14 February 2006). "People". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
  10. ^ "Jonathan Nott to extend contract until 2012, Robin Ticciati named Principal Guest Conductor" (Press release). Bamberger Symphoniker. 5 October 2009. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2009.
  11. ^ Nicholas Wroe (12 August 2011). "Jonathan Nott: conducting the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  12. ^ a b "Welcome to Jonathan Nott, New Music and Artistic Director of the OSR" (Press release). L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. 28 January 2015. Archived from the original on 12 March 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  13. ^ "Jonathan Nott Named Next Music Director of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra" (PDF) (Press release). Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. 10 October 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2012.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Jonathan Nott Extends Tenure As Music Director of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra Through 2025/26 Season" (Press release). Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. 7 September 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  15. ^ "Jonathan Nott's Tenure As Tokyo Symphony Music Director Culminates in March 2026" (PDF) (Press release). Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. 5 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  16. ^ Rocco Zacheo (28 January 2015). "Jonathan Nott reprend la direction musicale de l'OSR". Tribune de Genève. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  17. ^ Rocco Zacheo (28 January 2015). "Un nouvel homme fort pour l'OSR". Tribune de Genève. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  18. ^ "L'OSR et Maestro Jonathan Nott renouvellent leur collaboration!" (Press release). Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. 22 February 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  19. ^ Francisco Salazar (11 July 2023). "Jonathan Nott Extends Contract with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande". Operawire. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
[edit]
Cultural offices
Preceded by
Olaf Henzold
Principal Conductor, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra
1997–2002
Succeeded by
Preceded by Principal Conductor, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra
2000–2016
Succeeded by
Preceded by Music Director, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
2014–present
Succeeded by
incumbent