David Robertson (conductor)
Encyclopedia
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
.
and his mother studied literature, but later had a career as a caterer. In grade school, he played French horn and violin, and first conducted at age 12. He later studied horn, composition, and conducting as a college student at the Royal Academy of Music
in London.
In 1985, David Robertson was appointed resident conductor of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Five years later, in October 1990, the Ensemble Intercontemporain
of Paris named him Music Director. Although his appointment was initially newsworthy because Robertson was not a protégé of Pierre Boulez
, the Ensemble benefited from his decade of leadership by performing more works of 'non-Boulezian' composers, such as John Adams
, and by reinvigorating the Ensemble.
In 2000, Robertson was named the Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon
(ONL) and artistic director of Lyon
's Auditorium, He was the first individual to serve simultaneously in both capacities and the first American conductor to be appointed to either position. He and the ONL toured the United States in 2003, with concerts in New York City, Seattle, Berkeley
, and Los Angeles. He concluded his tenure in Lyon in 2004.
(SLSO) began in January 1999 when he made his first conducting appearance with the orchestra. Robertson's second appearance with the SLSO occurred in February 2002 at Carnegie Hall
after the SLSO's then-music director Hans Vonk withdrew a few days before the concert due to health problems. Robertson agreed to substitute, and he and the orchestra had only one rehearsal before the concert, which received a favorable review from The New York Times
. He later appeared with the SLSO in March 2003, and the SLSO named Robertson its next Music Director in December 2003, effective with the 2005-2006 season.
In April 2005, Robertson led the SLSO for the second time in a Carnegie Hall concert, after a labor dispute at the SLSO was resolved. Robertson conducted the SLSO in Carnegie Hall again in November 2005, March and April 2006, and March 2007. Robertson was one of Carnegie Hall
's Perspectives artists for the 2005-2006 season, and he curated concerts with the SLSO and other performances with various guest artists and ensembles.
Robertson is generally regarded as having restored the SLSO's artistic prominence after the sudden resignation of the prior music director, Hans Vonk, and the orchestra's labor dispute in the winter of 2005. New concert series begun during his tenure include a group of contemporary music concerts with The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts
and a series of "Fusion Concerts" at the Touhill Performing Arts Center of the University of Missouri–St. Louis
. In September 2006, the SLSO announced the extension of Robertson's contract through 2010, with a clause to allow for yearly renewal. As of November 2009, his SLSO contract is through the 2011-2012 season.
From the start of his tenure in St. Louis, speculation had been intense that both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
(CSO) and the New York Philharmonic
(NYP) were both trying to sign Robertson as their music director. The 2006 SLSO action momentarily ended the discussion relating to the Chicago position, at least through 2010, although there was renewed Chicago press speculation in 2007 that the CSO restored Robertson to its list of candidates. This speculation ended with the naming of Riccardo Muti
as the CSO's next music director in April 2008. In 2007, press reports said that the New York Philharmonic was still considering signing Robertson as its next music director, which ended with the July 2007 naming of Alan Gilbert
to that post.
(BBC SO) and he assumed that post later in the year, in parallel with the beginning of his St. Louis tenure. His Principal Guest Conductorship with the BBC Symphony Orchestra has since been extended through 2011. On September 12, 2009, Robertson became the second American conductor and the first standing BBC SO principal guest conductor to conduct the Last Night of the Proms.
In addition to the New York Philharmonic, Robertson continues to be a regular guest conductor with other major American orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra
, the New York Philharmonic
, the Los Angeles Philharmonic
, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
, and the San Francisco Symphony
. Anthony Tommasini
of the New York Times lauded Robertson's concerts with the New York Philharmonic. He served as Festival Director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic
's January 2008 Concrete Frequency Festival, as well as Music Director of the 2008 Ojai Music Festival
in Ojai, California.
Alongside his work in contemporary and symphonic music, Robertson is also much admired and sought-after as a conductor of opera. He opened the Rossini Festival in Pesaro
, Italy, in the summer of 1994. In 1996, he conducted a production of Janáček
's Věc Makropulos at the Metropolitan Opera
which featured Jessye Norman. Robertson made his next conducting appearance there in April and May 2008 with performances of Mozart
's Die Entführung aus dem Serail
.
Robertson has recorded for the Sony Classical, harmonia mundi, Naive, EMI/Virgin Classics, Atlantic/Erato, Nuema, Ades Valois, Naxos and Nonesuch labels, featuring the music of such composers as Adams, Bartók, Boulez, Carter, Dusapin, Dvorák, Ginastera, Lalo, Manoury, Milhaud, Reich, Saint-Saëns, and Silvestrov.
, the sister of violinist Gil Shaham
, with whom he has often appeared - including a performance at The Proms
in August 2010. Robertson and Shaham first met at a January 1999 SLSO concert, when she made her SLSO debut as guest pianist. They married on January 3, 2003. She is mother to their two youngest sons, twin boys Nathan Glenn and Alex Jacob, born September 15, 2007. Robertson has two sons from his second marriage, Peter and Jonathan. The family make their home in New York City.
from Columbia University
for his championing of American music. In April 2010, Robertson was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. On May 15, 2010, Robertson received the degree Doctor of Music honoris causa from Westminster Choir College
in Princeton, New Jersey.
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...
. He is currently the music director
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the SLSO is the second-oldest symphony orchestra in the United States as it is preceded by the New York Philharmonic.-History:The St...
, and Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
.
Early life
Robertson was born and raised in Malibu, California, and grew up in a music-loving family. His father was a research scientist at Hughes LaboratoryHughes Research Laboratories
HRL Laboratories , was the research arm of the Hughes Aircraft Company. Its dedicated research center was established in 1960 in Malibu...
and his mother studied literature, but later had a career as a caterer. In grade school, he played French horn and violin, and first conducted at age 12. He later studied horn, composition, and conducting as a college student at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
in London.
Career
After his college years, he began to receive conducting offers in Europe and performed often in both symphonic and operatic repertoire. His early career was also given a boost by speaking engagements contracted by the U.S. Information Agency in the Middle East and around the world on the subject of music.In 1985, David Robertson was appointed resident conductor of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Five years later, in October 1990, the Ensemble Intercontemporain
Ensemble InterContemporain
The Ensemble InterContemporain is a French chamber orchestra, based in Paris at the Cité de la musique and IRCAM, which specialises in contemporary classical music....
of Paris named him Music Director. Although his appointment was initially newsworthy because Robertson was not a protégé of 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...
, the Ensemble benefited from his decade of leadership by performing more works of 'non-Boulezian' composers, such as 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...
, and by reinvigorating the Ensemble.
In 2000, Robertson was named the Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon
Orchestre National de Lyon
The Orchestre National de Lyon is a French orchestra based in Lyon. Its current primary concert venue is l'Auditorium de Lyon. The orchestra operates with the help of a subsidy from the French Ministry of Culture and from the Rhône-Alpes regional council...
(ONL) and artistic director of Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
's Auditorium, He was the first individual to serve simultaneously in both capacities and the first American conductor to be appointed to either position. He and the ONL toured the United States in 2003, with concerts in New York City, Seattle, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, and Los Angeles. He concluded his tenure in Lyon in 2004.
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
David Robertson's relationship with the Saint Louis Symphony OrchestraSaint Louis Symphony Orchestra
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the SLSO is the second-oldest symphony orchestra in the United States as it is preceded by the New York Philharmonic.-History:The St...
(SLSO) began in January 1999 when he made his first conducting appearance with the orchestra. Robertson's second appearance with the SLSO occurred in February 2002 at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
after the SLSO's then-music director Hans Vonk withdrew a few days before the concert due to health problems. Robertson agreed to substitute, and he and the orchestra had only one rehearsal before the concert, which received a favorable review from The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. He later appeared with the SLSO in March 2003, and the SLSO named Robertson its next Music Director in December 2003, effective with the 2005-2006 season.
In April 2005, Robertson led the SLSO for the second time in a Carnegie Hall concert, after a labor dispute at the SLSO was resolved. Robertson conducted the SLSO in Carnegie Hall again in November 2005, March and April 2006, and March 2007. Robertson was one of Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
's Perspectives artists for the 2005-2006 season, and he curated concerts with the SLSO and other performances with various guest artists and ensembles.
Robertson is generally regarded as having restored the SLSO's artistic prominence after the sudden resignation of the prior music director, Hans Vonk, and the orchestra's labor dispute in the winter of 2005. New concert series begun during his tenure include a group of contemporary music concerts with The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts
The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts
The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in St. Louis, Missouri opened in 2001 with a building designed by internationally renowned architect, Tadao Ando. The Pulitzer is located at 3716 Washington Boulevard ....
and a series of "Fusion Concerts" at the Touhill Performing Arts Center of the University of Missouri–St. Louis
University of Missouri–St. Louis
The University of Missouri–St. Louis is one of four universities in the University of Missouri System. Established in 1963, it is the newest university in the UM System. , it is the largest university by enrollment in the St. Louis area with 16,548 students...
. In September 2006, the SLSO announced the extension of Robertson's contract through 2010, with a clause to allow for yearly renewal. As of November 2009, his SLSO contract is through the 2011-2012 season.
From the start of his tenure in St. Louis, speculation had been intense that both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
(CSO) and the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
(NYP) were both trying to sign Robertson as their music director. The 2006 SLSO action momentarily ended the discussion relating to the Chicago position, at least through 2010, although there was renewed Chicago press speculation in 2007 that the CSO restored Robertson to its list of candidates. This speculation ended with the naming of Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
as the CSO's next music director in April 2008. In 2007, press reports said that the New York Philharmonic was still considering signing Robertson as its next music director, which ended with the July 2007 naming of Alan Gilbert
Alan Gilbert (conductor)
Alan Gilbert is an American violinist and conductor. He is currently the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, making his debut performance as the orchestra's music director on September 16, 2009.-Early years:...
to that post.
Other conducting work
In February 2005, Robertson was named the Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony OrchestraBBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
(BBC SO) and he assumed that post later in the year, in parallel with the beginning of his St. Louis tenure. His Principal Guest Conductorship with the BBC Symphony Orchestra has since been extended through 2011. On September 12, 2009, Robertson became the second American conductor and the first standing BBC SO principal guest conductor to conduct the Last Night of the Proms.
In addition to the New York Philharmonic, Robertson continues to be a regular guest conductor with other major American orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
, the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
, the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
, and the San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
. Anthony Tommasini
Anthony Tommasini
-Early years:Tommasini was born in Brooklyn around 1948 and raised on Long Island. He was admitted to Oberlin College's Conservatory of Music, but chose to matriculate at Yale University in order to obtain a broader liberal arts education...
of the New York Times lauded Robertson's concerts with the New York Philharmonic. He served as Festival Director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
's January 2008 Concrete Frequency Festival, as well as Music Director of the 2008 Ojai Music Festival
Ojai Music Festival
The Ojai Music Festival is an annual classical music festival in the United States. Held in Ojai, California for four days every June, the festival presents music, symposia, and educational programs emphasizing adventurous, eclectic, and challenging music, principally by contemporary composers...
in Ojai, California.
Alongside his work in contemporary and symphonic music, Robertson is also much admired and sought-after as a conductor of opera. He opened the Rossini Festival in Pesaro
Pesaro
Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italian region of the Marche, capital of the Pesaro e Urbino province, on the Adriatic. According to the 2007 census, its population was 92,206....
, Italy, in the summer of 1994. In 1996, he conducted a production of Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
's Věc Makropulos at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
which featured Jessye Norman. Robertson made his next conducting appearance there in April and May 2008 with performances of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie...
.
Robertson has recorded for the Sony Classical, harmonia mundi, Naive, EMI/Virgin Classics, Atlantic/Erato, Nuema, Ades Valois, Naxos and Nonesuch labels, featuring the music of such composers as Adams, Bartók, Boulez, Carter, Dusapin, Dvorák, Ginastera, Lalo, Manoury, Milhaud, Reich, Saint-Saëns, and Silvestrov.
Personal life
Robertson has a loft in downtown St. Louis, and also residences in New York City, London and Paris. As of 2005, he is married to his third wife, pianist Orli ShahamOrli Shaham
Orli Shaham is an American pianist, born in Jerusalem, Israel, the daughter of two scientists, Jacob Shaham and Meira Diskin. Her brother is the violinist Gil Shaham. She is a graduate of the Horace Mann School in Riverdale, New York, and of Columbia University...
, the sister of violinist Gil Shaham
Gil Shaham
-Biography:Gil Shaham was born in Urbana, Illinois, while his parents, Israeli scientists, were on an academic fellowship at the University of Illinois. His father Jacob was an astrophysicist, and his mother, Meira Diskin, was a cytogeneticist. His sister is the pianist Orli Shaham. He is a...
, with whom he has often appeared - including a performance at 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...
in August 2010. Robertson and Shaham first met at a January 1999 SLSO concert, when she made her SLSO debut as guest pianist. They married on January 3, 2003. She is mother to their two youngest sons, twin boys Nathan Glenn and Alex Jacob, born September 15, 2007. Robertson has two sons from his second marriage, Peter and Jonathan. The family make their home in New York City.
Honours and awards
Robertson received the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award in 1997. In December 1999, Musical America named David Robertson Conductor of the Year. Robertson received the 2006 Ditson Conductor's AwardDitson Conductor's Award
The Ditson Conductor's Award, established in 1945, is the oldest award honoring conductors for their commitment to the performance of American music. The US$5,000 purse endowed by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University was increased in 1999 from US$1,000.Upon the death of Alice M. Ditson,...
from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
for his championing of American music. In April 2010, Robertson was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. On May 15, 2010, Robertson received the degree Doctor of Music honoris causa from Westminster Choir College
Westminster Choir College
Westminster Choir College is a residential college of music, part of Rider University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.Westminster Choir College educates men and women at the undergraduate and graduate levels for musical careers in music education, voice performance, piano...
in Princeton, New Jersey.
External links
- David Robertson biography at the Saint Louis Symphony OrchestraSaint Louis Symphony OrchestraThe Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the SLSO is the second-oldest symphony orchestra in the United States as it is preceded by the New York Philharmonic.-History:The St...
- Wakin, Daniel. "Unprompted, Lorin Maazel Nominates His Successor". New York Times, November 29, 2006.
- Tommasini, Anthony. "Under a Baton in a Younger Hand". New York Times, November 28 2003.
- Alex Ross, "The Evangelist". The New Yorker, December 2005
- Los Angeles Philharmonic's "Concrete Frequency" festival
- Videos of David Robertson talking about the Los Angeles Philharmonic's "Concrete Freque[ncy" festival