Andris Nelsons

Biography

Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons has earned himself a distinguished name both on the opera and concert podiums.

Life and Music

Born in Riga in 1978 into a family of musicians, Andris Nelsons began his career in music as a trumpeter in the Latvian National Opera Orchestra.

He was recipient of the prestigious Latvian Grand Music Award for outstanding achievement in music in 2001 and, after graduating in the same year, he went to St. Petersburg to study conducting with Professor Alexander Titov.

He has been studying privately with Mariss Jansons since 2002 and completed his tenure as Principal Conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie in Herford, Germany, in 2009. From 2003-2007 he was Music Director of the Latvian National Opera.

Nelsons has been Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra since 2008 to critical acclaim. With CBSO he is undertaking major tours worldwide, including regular appearances at such summer festivals as Lucerne Festival, BBC Proms and Berliner Festspiele.

Andris Nelsons is also a regular guest at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera New York, Wiener Staatsoper and Deutsche Staatsoper. In summer 2011 he returned to Bayreuther Festspiele as Musical Director for Lohengrin, in a new production directed by Hans Neuenfels. He returns to Bayreuth in 2012.

Did you know?

As well as playing trumpet from a young age, Nelsons also sang bass-baritone in his mother’s ensembles, with a particular interest in early music.