Yan Pascal Tortelier (born 19 April 1947) is a French

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist.

Biography

Born in Paris, Tortelier is the son of the cellist

Paul Tortelier Paul Tortelier (21 March 1914 – 18 December 1990) was a French cellist and composer. After an outstanding student career at the Conservatoire de Paris he played in orchestras in France and the US before the Second World War. After the war he bec ...

, and the brother of Maria de la Pau. Tortelier began piano and violin studies at age 4. At age 14, he was a first-prize winner for violin at the Paris Conservatoire. Tortelier has worked and recorded extensively in the United Kingdom. He was principal conductor of the

Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra is a full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. Based in Belfast, the orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United Kingdom ...

from 1989 to 1992. He served as Principal Conductor of the

BBC Philharmonic The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Media ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

from 1992 to 2003, and now has the title of conductor emeritus with the orchestra. He has also been a Principal Guest Conductor of the

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain The National Youth Orchestra (NYO), formerly the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, is the national youth orchestra of the United Kingdom, consisting of 164 members of ages 13 to 19 years. Auditions take place in the autumn each year at va ...

(NYOGB). Tortelier served as Principal Guest Conductor of the

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra is resident at Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District. Since 2008, the orchestra's music director is Manfred Ho ...

from 2005 to 2008. He was principal conductor of the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (OSESP) from 2009 to 2011, and had the title of honorary guest conductor with the OSESP from 2011 to 2013. Tortelier first guest-conducted the

Iceland Symphony Orchestra Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa (concert hall), Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution u ...

(ISO) in 1998. In October 2015, the ISO announced the appointment of Tortelier as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2016–2017 season, with a contract of 3 years. Tortelier stood down as principal conductor of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in June 2019. Tortelier's recordings include his own orchestration of

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

's Trio. He is a regular recording artist for Chandos Records, and has conducted commercial recordings for Chandos with the BBC Philharmonic, the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

, and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. On Plasson's 1978 recording of ''

Orphée aux enfers ''Orpheus in the Underworld'' and ''Orpheus in Hell'' are English names for (), a comic opera with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy. It was first performed as a two-act " opéra bouffon" at the Th ...

'', he plays the violin solos.

References

External links

IMG Artists agency biography of Yan Pascal Tortelier

at th
NYOGB website
French male conductors (music) French expatriates in the United Kingdom Conservatoire de Paris alumni Musicians from Paris 1947 births Living people Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music 21st-century French conductors (music) 21st-century French male musicians Principal conductors of the BBC Philharmonic {{France-conductor-stub