Jonathan Nott

Without victories in competitions or the support of an established mentor, Jonathan Nott built his conducting career through early engagements at opera houses abroad before adding orchestral programs that frequently included contemporary scores. He earned recognition for his command of avant-garde repertoire, beginning with a 1996 BIS recording of works by Xenakis, Berio, and Fornés and continuing with later releases featuring Ligeti, Feldman, Rihm, and additional composers. In the twenty-first century he has also drawn acclaim for his Schubert, Mahler, and Mozart interpretations as well as his operatic accounts of Verdi, Puccini, and other composers.

Nott was born in Solihull, West Midlands, England, on December 25, 1962. His father, an Anglican priest, passed on the Anglican choral tradition. He read choral music at Cambridge University before studying voice and flute at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, then shifted his focus to conducting at the National Opera Studio in London. His professional debut came at the 1988 Battignano Opera Festival in Italy, followed the next year by an appointment as kapellmeister at the Frankfurt Opera. He advanced to the Hessian National Theater in Wiesbaden, serving as Hoch Kapellmeister from 1991 and as chief conductor during the 1995-1996 season.

Guest appearances with leading orchestras began in the mid-1990s and included the Orchestre de Paris, Munich Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw, and principal ensembles in London, New York, and Los Angeles. In 1997 he became principal conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, remaining until 2002 while also acting as music director of the Lucerne Theater. The year 2000 brought simultaneous appointments as music director of the Paris-based Ensemble InterContemporain, a post he held until 2003, and as principal conductor of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, where he remained until 2016. During that tenure he added the music directorship of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in 2012 and the principal conductor and artistic advisor roles with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie in 2014. His initial engagement with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande occurred that same year, leading to his designation as the ensemble’s next music and artistic director in 2015; his tenure began in 2017. As of early 2024 he continues to occupy both posts.

Some of his most notable recognition has come from recordings made with the Bamberg Symphony, matched by comparable praise in the concert hall for his Schubert and Mahler symphony cycles.