Jonathan Nott
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Jonathan Nott (born 25 December 1962, in
Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...
, England) is an English conductor.


Biography

The son of a priest at
Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified ...
, Nott was a music student and choral scholar at
St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...
, and also studied singing and flute in Manchester at the
Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...
. Nott was also a conducting student in London. He left Britain to develop his conducting career in Germany via the traditional ''
Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...
'' system. Nott made his conducting debut in 1988 at the Opera Festival in Battignano, Italy. In 1989, he was appointed ''Kapellmeister'' at the
Frankfurt Opera The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Shrek's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Frede ...
. In 1991, he was appointed ''Erster Kapellmeister'' at the
Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden The Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden ('Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden') is a German theatre located in Wiesbaden, in the German state Hesse. The company produces operas, plays, ballets, musicals and concerts on four stages. Known also as the ...
, and became interim chief conductor for the 1995–96 season. He later became music director at the
Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...
Theatre and served as principal conductor of the
Lucerne Symphony Orchestra The Lucerne Symphony Orchestra (german: Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, links=no) is a Swiss orchestra based in Lucerne. The Luzerner SInfonieorchester is the orchestra-in-residence of the renowned Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre (KKL Luzern). ...
from 1997 to 2002. With the Berlin Philharmonic, Nott recorded several orchestral works of
György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...
as part of the Teldec contribution to the complete recorded works of Ligeti. 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. 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. Several years after his 2009 contract extension through the 2011–2012 season, in 2011, Nott and the orchestra agreed on a further extension of his contract with the Bamberg Symphony through the 2015–2016 season. 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 The Junge Deutsche Philharmonie (''Young German Philharmonic'', JDPh) is one of the national youth orchestras of Germany. Unlike the Bundesjugendorchester, which is composed of pre-university students aged 14–19, the Junge Deutsche Philharmon ...
. Nott first guest-conducted the
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra The or TSO, was established in 1946 as the Toho Symphony Orchestra (東宝交響楽団). It assumed its present name in 1951. Based in Kawasaki, the TSO performs in numerous concert halls and serves as pit orchestra for some productions at Ne ...
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. Tokyo Symphony Orchestra announced in September 2015 that they have extended Nott's tenure through the 2025–2026 season. In October 2014, Nott made his first guest-conducting appearances with l' 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. 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. Nott and his wife Helen have three children.


References


External links


Richard Whitehouse, "Prophet Without UK Honour – Jonathan Nott Interview"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nott, Jonathan 1962 births Living people People educated at King's School, Worcester English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians Alumni of the Royal Northern College of Music Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge