Sylvain Cambreling (born 2 July 1948 in

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

, France) is a French conductor.

Biography

Trained as a trombone player, Cambreling studied at the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

. He joined l' Orchestre Symphonique de Lyon (OSL) as a trombonist in 1971. In 1974, he took second prize in the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors. His conducting debut was with the OSL in 1975, leading

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

's ''Scenes from Goethe's Faust''. At the invitation of

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

, he began to guest-conduct the Ensemble Intercontemporain regularly from 1976. Cambreling was the music director of the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels from 1981 to 1991, during Gerard Mortier's tenure. He served as artistic director and general music director of the Frankfurt Opera from 1993 to 1997. During his Frankfurt tenure, he encountered controversy over proposed budget cuts from the city of

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and the director for opera and ballet, Martin Steinhoff. From 1997 to 2004, he served as principal guest conductor of Klangforum Wien, with whom he premiered

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental music, experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia (Berio), Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Seque ...

's final opera, Cronaca del luogo. He also made several commercial recordings with Klangforum Wien. He was a frequent conductor at the

Opéra National de Paris The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

during Mortier's tenure there, from 2004 to 2009, holding the title of "principal conductor" for the first season of that duration, a title shared with six other conductors. From 1999 to 2011, Cambreling was chief conductor of the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, and made several commercial recordings with the orchestra. In April 2010, he was named ''Generalmusikdirektor'' (GMD) of the

Stuttgart State Opera The Staatsoper Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Opera) is a German opera company based in Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Staatsorchester Stuttgart serves as its resident orchestra. History Performances of operas, ballet and ...

, effective with the 2012–2013 season. He concluded his Stuttgart tenure at the close of the 2017–2018 season. Cambreling had been offered the post of chief conductor of the newly-formed SWR Symphonieorchester, but declined on principle, in protest at the merger of the two precursor orchestras into the new ensemble. In February 2018, the Symphoniker Hamburg announced the appointment of Cambreling as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2018–2019 season. In June 2022, the ''Symphoniker Hamburg'' announced the extension of Cambreling's contract through the summer of 2028. Outside of Europe, Cambreling became principal conductor of the

Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra The is a Japanese symphony orchestra administratively based in Tokyo. The orchestra primarily performs concerts in Tokyo at the Suntory Hall, but also gives concerts at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall and also performs in Yokohama at the Yokoha ...

in April 2010, with an initial contract of 3 years. He concluded his tenure as principal conductor on 31 March 2019, and now has the title of conductor laureate of the orchestra.

References

External links

Official Sylvain Cambreling website

Hazard Chase Artists page on Sylvain Cambreling

16 November 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cambreling, Sylvain Music directors (opera) 1948 births Living people People from Amiens Conservatoire de Paris alumni École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni Prize-winners of the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors French male conductors (music) 20th-century French conductors (music) 21st-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French male musicians 21st-century French male musicians Chief conductors of the SWR Baden-Baden Freiburg Symphony Orchestra