Karel Mark Chichon
Hailed as one of today’s most exciting young conductors, Karel Mark Chichon was described by the New York Times as “A conductor of genius” and continues to thrill international audiences with his temperament, passion and musicianship.
He is Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern (beginning September 2011) and is also Chief Conductor & Artistic Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra since 2009. His previous positions include Chief Conductor of the Graz Symphony Orchestra (2006-2009).
In addition to his posts in Saarbrücken and Riga, Chichon regularly conducts at the Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerisches Staatsoper Munich, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Real Madrid, Palau de les Arts Valencia and with orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Wiener Symphoniker, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Russian National Orchestra, Basel Chamber Orchestra in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Turin, Bologna, Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.
In December 2010, he made his acclaimed debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam for a set of four subcription concerts, stepping in for Antonio Pappano at short notice. These concerts were immediately acclaimed by the critics and audience.
He made his first recording for Deutsche Grammophon in March 2010 conducting the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI which was released in September 2010.
Born in London in 1971, Chichon hails from Gibraltar. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music (London) and was assistant conductor to Giuseppe Sinopoli and Valery Gergiev.
Since 2003 he has been a regular guest conductor with the English Chamber Orchestra and in 2004 he was invited by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to conduct concerts at their International Orchestra Institute in Salzburg and made highly successful return visits in 2005 and 2006.
He is a frequent guest conductor with leading orchestras throughout the world at venues such as the Musikverein Wien, Konzerthaus Wien, Royal Festival Hall London, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Paris, Berlin Philharmonie, Munich Philharmonie, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Alter Oper Frankfurt, Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Auditorio Nacional de Musica Madrid and Seoul Arts Center South Korea.
For more information on Karl Mark Chichon please visit his website.
Committee Members
James G Lasry | Karel Mark Chichon | Liene Lapševska
Susan Bruzon | Kavita Daswani | Aida Delaney | Claire Kelly | Joachim Knodt
Lulu Veneroni Rocca | Lyn White