Jan Latham-Koenig

Conductor Jan Latham-Koenig built a notably diverse professional path that combined long-term leadership roles with frequent guest engagements throughout Europe, the United States, and Mexico. He ranks among the limited number of British conductors who achieved substantial recognition in Eastern Europe and Russia.

Born in London on December 15, 1953, he trained at the Royal College of Music under Norman del Mar, Kendall Taylor, and Lamar Crowson. In 1976 he established the Koenig Ensemble, and during the early 1980s he pursued additional studies through a Gulbenkian Fellowship. At the outset of his career he also performed regularly as a concert pianist. In 1988 he led Verdi’s Macbeth at the Vienna State Opera, where his work created a marked impact that resulted in his appointment as permanent guest conductor in 1991. This engagement opened the way to further high-profile operatic invitations at Covent Garden in London, the Opéra National de Paris, and the New National Theatre in Tokyo, while his orchestral appearances extended to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin.

His principal conductor and music director appointments spanned several countries, beginning with the Orchestra of Porto, which he founded between 1989 and 1992 at the invitation of the Portuguese government. Starting in 1997 he simultaneously directed both the Opéra du Rhin and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg in France. Additional leadership positions included music director of the Wrocław Philharmonic and the Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Poland. In 2011 he became artistic director of Moscow’s Novaya Opera, the first British musician to head a major Russian opera company. During the 2010s he also served as music director of the Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM in Mexico City and the Flanders Symphony Orchestra in Bruges, Belgium. In 2019 he launched the Britten Shostakovich Festival Orchestra. His recordings appear on the Chandos, Avie, and Capriccio labels, among others, covering both operatic and symphonic repertoire. A 2020 release on Resonus Classics featured him with pianist Mark Bebbington and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in an album of Poulenc’s works for piano and orchestra.