Biography

Yan Pascal Tortelier began his musical career as a violinist and, at age fourteen, won first prize for violin at the Paris Conservatory, making his soloist debut with the London Philharmonic shortly afterward. Following general musical studies with Nadia Boulanger, Mr. Tortelier studied conducting with Franco Ferrara at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in 1998.

This season, Mr. Tortelier continues as Chief Conductor of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Previously he was principal conductor and artistic director of the Ulster Orchestra (1989 to 1992), principal guest conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony (2005 to 2008), and principal conductor of the São Paulo Symphony (2009 to 2011). Following his work as chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic from 1992 to 2003, he was given the title of Conductor Emeritus and continues to work and record with the orchestra regularly. He also holds the position of Principal Guest Conductor at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

He began the 2017-18 season with two weeks with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, before traveling to Valladolid to conduct the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León. Other season highlights include performances with the Polish National Radio Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, Royal Northern College of Music, and Buenos Aires Philharmonic.

Mr. Tortelier has collaborated with the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala Milan, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, the Boston and Chicago symphonies, Sydney and Melbourne symphonies, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, and Malaysian Philharmonic. Recent highlights have included appearances in North America with the orchestras of Pittsburgh, Dallas, Montreal, Saint Louis, and Baltimore.

Mr. Tortelier has enjoyed a long association with Chandos Records, resulting in an extensive catalogue of recordings, notably with the BBC Philharmonic and Ulster Orchestra, and including award-winning cycles of the orchestral music of Debussy, Ravel (featuring his own orchestration of Ravel’s Piano Trio), Franck, Roussel, and Dutilleux. He has also conducted acclaimed discs of repertory ranging from Hindemith and Kodály to Lutosławski, and Karłowicz. Recent releases for Chandos include the Ravel piano concertos coupled with Debussy’s Fantaisie, with pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, and a disc of works by Florent Schmitt with the São Paulo Symphony. In the 2013-14 season, Mr. Tortelier added to his catalogue with the release of an entire disc of Stravinsky, once again collaborating with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

(April 2018)