BBC Symphony Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestra
s in Britain
.
Military Band" in 1923. The "Wireless Orchestra" was formed the following year under conductors Landon Ronald
and Dan Godfrey
, the latter becoming the orchestra's first permanent conductor. In 1926 the conductorship went to the BBC's Director of Music Percy Pitt
, and the ensemble went under several names, notably the "BBC Wireless Symphony Orchestra" or the "British Broadcasting Corporation's Wireless Symphony Orchestra," under which names it recorded for Columbia Records
. Upon Pitt's retirement in 1930 the orchestra became a full time organisation as the "BBC Symphony Orchestra," with Adrian Boult
as its first chief conductor. He remained chief conductor
until 1950, when Malcolm Sargent
took over (holding the post until 1957). Other principal conductors have included Antal Doráti
(1962–66), Colin Davis
(1967–71), Pierre Boulez
(1971–75), Gennady Rozhdestvensky
(1978–81) Andrew Davis
(no relation to Colin) (1989–2000), and Leonard Slatkin
(2000–2004). In 2005, the Czech conductor, Jiří Bělohlávek
was named the orchestra's 12th Chief Conductor, the first former BBC SO Principal Guest Conductor to become its Chief Conductor. He became Chief Conductor in 2006 with the First Night of The Proms
2006. His contract as Chief Conductor is currently due to expire in 2012.
As well as these principal conductors, the orchestra has had several notable guest conductors, including Arturo Toscanini
, who made a series of commercial recordings with the orchestra in Queen's Hall
from 1937 to 1939, which were released by His Master's Voice in the UK and RCA Victor in the US. EMI
later issued recordings of broadcast concerts with Toscanini and the orchestra. Past Principal Guest Conductors have included Charles Mackerras
(1977–1979), Michael Gielen (1978–1981), Günter Wand
, Mark Elder
(1982–1985), Peter Eötvös
(1985–1988), Alexander Lazarev
(1992–1995), Bělohlávek (1995–2000), and Jukka-Pekka Saraste
(2002–2005). The current Principal Guest Conductor is the American conductor David Robertson
, since October 2005, and his contract currently runs to 2011.
The orchestra primarily performed in Queen's Hall
until the outbreak of World War II
in September 1939, curtailing that year's season of Proms. The orchestra was then evacuated to Bristol
, where it was initially left largely unused. Due to Bristol's strategic status as a port it suffered heavy bombing, so the orchestra was relocated to Bedford
in July 1941. The 1940 and 1941 Proms seasons were run without BBC involvement, but the BBC returned in 1942. The Queen's Hall was destroyed by a Luftwaffe
incendiary bomb on 11 May 1941, prompting the move of the Proms to their current location in the Royal Albert Hall
. Outside the Proms season, broadcast concerts and recordings were then moved to the Bedford School
, and after the launch of the V-1 raids in 1944 the remaining broadcast concerts of that year's Proms season were performed at the Bedford Corn Exchange
. A memorable 1944 recording of Sir Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 2
, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult, was later reissued on CD by EMI, along with shorter works of Elgar recorded during the 1930s in Queen's Hall.
The BBC SO is Associate Orchestra of the Barbican
in London and gives an annual season of concerts there. The orchestra is the principal orchestra of The Proms
, the annual season of concerts played at the Royal Albert Hall
, giving around a dozen concerts each season, including the First and Last Nights, the most concerts of any single orchestra during The Proms. All concerts are broadcast on BBC Radio 3
, streamed online and available on the BBC iPlayer
for seven days after broadcast, and a number are televised, giving the BBC Symphony Orchestra the highest broadcast profile of any UK orchestra. Central to its life are studio recordings for BBC Radio 3 at the Orchestra’s Maida Vale
home, some of which are free for the public to attend. In addition to these BBC-produced recordings, the orchestra has recorded for several commercial labels, including Teldec
, Deutsche Grammophon
, and Chandos
.
Performing throughout the world, the BBC SO has recently given concerts in Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Taiwan.
The Orchestra is committed to innovative education work. Recent projects include a day of free music for communities across West London, as part of Proms Out+About, and last November the Orchestra cleared its schedule for a week-long celebration of the music and culture of Turkey involving Turkish musicians and people of all ages from across London. Among ongoing projects are the Family Music Intro scheme, introducing families to live classical music, BBC SO Student Zone and the highly successful BBC SO Family Orchestra.
The orchestra frequently commissions works by contemporary composer
s, and is a particular champion of new British works. Harrison Birtwistle
's Earth Dances, Pierre Boulez
' Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna
and John Tavener
's The Protecting Veil
were all BBC commissions first played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 2000, the orchestra appointed its first Associate Composer, Mark-Anthony Turnage
. John Adams
became the BBC Symphony Orchestra's Artist in Association in June 2003. Composer and conductor Oliver Knussen
took up the post of Artist in Association in July 2009.
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
s in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
History
The BBC had started broadcasting with ensembles using its institutional name (or variants) almost from its beginning in 1922, the first such group being the "2LO2LO
2LO was the second radio station to regularly broadcast in the United Kingdom . It began broadcasting on 11 May 1922, for one hour a day from the seventh floor of Marconi House in London's Strand...
Military Band" in 1923. The "Wireless Orchestra" was formed the following year under conductors Landon Ronald
Landon Ronald
Sir Landon Ronald was an English conductor, composer, pianist, singing teacher and administrator...
and Dan Godfrey
Dan Godfrey
Sir Dan Godfrey was a British music conductor and member of a musical dynasty that included his father Dan Godfrey...
, the latter becoming the orchestra's first permanent conductor. In 1926 the conductorship went to the BBC's Director of Music Percy Pitt
Percy Pitt
Percy Pitt was an English organist and conductor.A native of London, Pitt studied music at the conservatory in Leipzig, also working in Munich with Josef Rheinberger...
, and the ensemble went under several names, notably the "BBC Wireless Symphony Orchestra" or the "British Broadcasting Corporation's Wireless Symphony Orchestra," under which names it recorded for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. Upon Pitt's retirement in 1930 the orchestra became a full time organisation as the "BBC Symphony Orchestra," with Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
as its first chief conductor. He remained chief conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
until 1950, when Malcolm Sargent
Malcolm Sargent
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works...
took over (holding the post until 1957). Other principal conductors have included Antal Doráti
Antal Doráti
Antal Doráti, KBE was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1947.-Biography:...
(1962–66), Colin Davis
Colin Davis
Sir Colin Rex Davis, CH, CBE is an English conductor. His repertoire is broad, but among the composers with whom he is particularly associated are Mozart, Berlioz, Elgar, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Tippett....
(1967–71), Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
(1971–75), Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky is a Russian conductor.-Biography:Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. His parents were the noted conductor and pedagogue Nikolai Anosov and soprano Natalya Rozhdestvenskaya...
(1978–81) Andrew Davis
Andrew Davis (conductor)
Sir Andrew Frank Davis CBE is a British conductor.Born in Ashridge, Hertfordshire to Robert J. Davis and his wife Florence J. née Badminton, Davis grew up in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, and in Watford. Davis attended Watford Boys' Grammar School, where he studied classics in his sixth form years...
(no relation to Colin) (1989–2000), and Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin is an American conductor and composer.-Early life and education:Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His father Felix Slatkin was the violinist, conductor and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet,...
(2000–2004). In 2005, the Czech conductor, Jiří Bělohlávek
Jirí Belohlávek
Jiří Bělohlávek is a Czech conductor. His father was a barrister and judge. In his youth Bělohlávek studied cello with Miloš Sádlo and was later a graduate of the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague...
was named the orchestra's 12th Chief Conductor, the first former BBC SO Principal Guest Conductor to become its Chief Conductor. He became Chief Conductor in 2006 with the First Night of The Proms
The Proms
The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London...
2006. His contract as Chief Conductor is currently due to expire in 2012.
As well as these principal conductors, the orchestra has had several notable guest conductors, including Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
, who made a series of commercial recordings with the orchestra in Queen's Hall
Queen's Hall
The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect T.E. Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it was the home of the promenade concerts founded by Robert...
from 1937 to 1939, which were released by His Master's Voice in the UK and RCA Victor in the US. EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
later issued recordings of broadcast concerts with Toscanini and the orchestra. Past Principal Guest Conductors have included Charles Mackerras
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...
(1977–1979), Michael Gielen (1978–1981), Günter Wand
Günter Wand
Günter Wand was a German orchestra conductor and composer. Wand studied in Wuppertal, Allenstein and Detmold. At the Cologne conservatory, he was a composition student with Philipp Jarnach and a piano student with Paul Baumgartner...
, Mark Elder
Mark Elder
Sir Mark Philip Elder, CBE is a British conductor. He is the music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England.-Biography:Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, England, the son of a dentist...
(1982–1985), Peter Eötvös
Peter Eötvös
Péter Eötvös is a Hungarian composer and conductor.Eötvös was born in Odorheiu Secuiesc/Székelyudvarhely, Szeklerland, Transylvania . He studied composition in Budapest and Cologne. From 1962, he composed for film in Hungary. Eötvös played regularly with the Stockhausen Ensemble between 1968 and...
(1985–1988), Alexander Lazarev
Alexander Lazarev
Alexander Lazarev is a Russian conductor. He studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, and later at the Moscow Conservatory with Leo Ginsbourg. In 1971, he was the first prize winner in a national conducting competition in the USSR...
(1992–1995), Bělohlávek (1995–2000), and Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Jukka-Pekka Saraste is a Finnish conductor and violinist.Saraste was trained as a violinist. He later studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy with Jorma Panula, in the same class as Esa-Pekka Salonen and Osmo Vänskä...
(2002–2005). The current Principal Guest Conductor is the American conductor David Robertson
David Robertson (conductor)
David Eric Robertson is an American conductor. He is currently the music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.-Early life:...
, since October 2005, and his contract currently runs to 2011.
The orchestra primarily performed in Queen's Hall
Queen's Hall
The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect T.E. Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it was the home of the promenade concerts founded by Robert...
until the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in September 1939, curtailing that year's season of Proms. The orchestra was then evacuated to Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, where it was initially left largely unused. Due to Bristol's strategic status as a port it suffered heavy bombing, so the orchestra was relocated to Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
in July 1941. The 1940 and 1941 Proms seasons were run without BBC involvement, but the BBC returned in 1942. The Queen's Hall was destroyed by a Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
incendiary bomb on 11 May 1941, prompting the move of the Proms to their current location in the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
. Outside the Proms season, broadcast concerts and recordings were then moved to the Bedford School
Bedford School
Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Modern School or Bedford High School or Old Bedford School in Bedford, TexasBedford School is an HMC independent school for boys located in the town of Bedford, England, United Kingdom...
, and after the launch of the V-1 raids in 1944 the remaining broadcast concerts of that year's Proms season were performed at the Bedford Corn Exchange
Corn Exchange, Bedford
Bedford Corn Exchange is located on St Paul's Square in the Castle area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England.-History of the Corn Exchange:The building was designed to be a concert venue and meeting space, as well as a place of business. The basement contained offices, cloakrooms, kitchen, hall...
. A memorable 1944 recording of Sir Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 2 (Elgar)
Sir Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 2 in E major, Op. 63, was completed on 28 February 1911 and was premiered at the London Musical Festival at the Queen's Hall by the Queen's Hall Orchestra on 24 May 1911 with the composer conducting...
, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult, was later reissued on CD by EMI, along with shorter works of Elgar recorded during the 1930s in Queen's Hall.
The BBC SO is Associate Orchestra of the Barbican
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
in London and gives an annual season of concerts there. The orchestra is the principal orchestra of The Proms
The Proms
The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London...
, the annual season of concerts played at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, giving around a dozen concerts each season, including the First and Last Nights, the most concerts of any single orchestra during The Proms. All concerts are broadcast on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
, streamed online and available on the BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer, commonly shortened to iPlayer, is an internet television and radio service, developed by the BBC to extend its former RealPlayer-based and other streamed video clip content to include whole TV shows....
for seven days after broadcast, and a number are televised, giving the BBC Symphony Orchestra the highest broadcast profile of any UK orchestra. Central to its life are studio recordings for BBC Radio 3 at the Orchestra’s Maida Vale
Maida Vale Studios
Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC studios on Delaware Road, Maida Vale, London.It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4 from 1946 to the present...
home, some of which are free for the public to attend. In addition to these BBC-produced recordings, the orchestra has recorded for several commercial labels, including Teldec
Teldec
The Teldec is a German record label in Hamburg, Germany. Today the label is a property of Warner Music Group.-History:...
, Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
, and Chandos
Chandos Records
Chandos Records is an independent classical music recording company based in Colchester, Essex, in the United Kingdom, founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens.- Background :...
.
Performing throughout the world, the BBC SO has recently given concerts in Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Taiwan.
The Orchestra is committed to innovative education work. Recent projects include a day of free music for communities across West London, as part of Proms Out+About, and last November the Orchestra cleared its schedule for a week-long celebration of the music and culture of Turkey involving Turkish musicians and people of all ages from across London. Among ongoing projects are the Family Music Intro scheme, introducing families to live classical music, BBC SO Student Zone and the highly successful BBC SO Family Orchestra.
The orchestra frequently commissions works by contemporary composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
s, and is a particular champion of new British works. Harrison Birtwistle
Harrison Birtwistle
Sir Harrison Paul Birtwistle CH is a British contemporary composer.-Life:Birtwistle was born in Accrington, a mill town in Lancashire some 20 miles north of Manchester. His interest in music was encouraged by his mother, who bought him a clarinet when he was seven, and arranged for him to have...
's Earth Dances, Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
' Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna
Rituel in Memoriam Bruno Maderna
Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna is a composition for large chamber ensemble in eight groups by the French composer Pierre Boulez. It was first performed in London, 2 April 1975, by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Boulez....
and John Tavener
John Tavener
Sir John Tavener is a British composer, best known for such religious, minimal works as "The Whale", and "Funeral Ikos"...
's The Protecting Veil
The Protecting Veil
The Protecting Veil is a musical composition for cello and strings by British composer John Tavener. Completed in 1988, the work was at first a suggestion from cellist Steven Isserlis and subsequently commissioned by the BBC for the 1989 Proms season...
were all BBC commissions first played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 2000, the orchestra appointed its first Associate Composer, Mark-Anthony Turnage
Mark-Anthony Turnage
Mark-Anthony Turnage is a prolific English composer of classical music. His initial musical studies were with Oliver Knussen, John Lambert, and later with Gunther Schuller...
. John Adams
John Coolidge Adams
John Coolidge Adams is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer with strong roots in minimalism. His best-known works include Short Ride in a Fast Machine , On the Transmigration of Souls , a choral piece commemorating the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks , and Shaker...
became the BBC Symphony Orchestra's Artist in Association in June 2003. Composer and conductor Oliver Knussen
Oliver Knussen
Oliver Knussen CBE is a British composer and conductor.-Biography:Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra. Oliver Knussen studied composition with John Lambert, between 1963 and 1969 and also received...
took up the post of Artist in Association in July 2009.
Chief conductors
- Adrian BoultAdrian BoultSir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
(1930–1950) - Malcolm SargentMalcolm SargentSir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works...
(1950–1957) - Rudolf SchwarzRudolf Schwarz (conductor)Rudolf Schwarz CBE was an Austrian-born conductor of Jewish ancestry. He became a British citizen and spent the latter half of his life in England.-Early life:...
(1957–1963) - Antal DorátiAntal DorátiAntal Doráti, KBE was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1947.-Biography:...
(1962–1966) - Colin DavisColin DavisSir Colin Rex Davis, CH, CBE is an English conductor. His repertoire is broad, but among the composers with whom he is particularly associated are Mozart, Berlioz, Elgar, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Tippett....
(1967–1971) - Pierre BoulezPierre BoulezPierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
(1971–1975) - Rudolf KempeRudolf KempeRudolf Kempe was a German conductor.- Biography :Kempe was born in Dresden, where from the age of fourteen he studied at the Dresden State Opera School. He played oboe in the opera orchestra of Dortmund and then in the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra, from 1929...
(1976) - Gennady RozhdestvenskyGennady RozhdestvenskyGennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky is a Russian conductor.-Biography:Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. His parents were the noted conductor and pedagogue Nikolai Anosov and soprano Natalya Rozhdestvenskaya...
(1978–1981) - John Pritchard (1982–1989)
- Andrew DavisAndrew Davis (conductor)Sir Andrew Frank Davis CBE is a British conductor.Born in Ashridge, Hertfordshire to Robert J. Davis and his wife Florence J. née Badminton, Davis grew up in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, and in Watford. Davis attended Watford Boys' Grammar School, where he studied classics in his sixth form years...
(1989–2000) - Leonard SlatkinLeonard SlatkinLeonard Edward Slatkin is an American conductor and composer.-Early life and education:Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His father Felix Slatkin was the violinist, conductor and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet,...
(2000–2004) - Jiří BělohlávekJirí BelohlávekJiří Bělohlávek is a Czech conductor. His father was a barrister and judge. In his youth Bělohlávek studied cello with Miloš Sádlo and was later a graduate of the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague...
(2006–present)
External links
- BBC Symphony Orchestra Official website
- Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks