Biography

Christian Zacharias is one of the world's most celebrated pianists and has also received recognition as a conductor, musical thinker, writer, and broadcaster. He maintains an active career as a pianist with recital and concerto performances around the world with leading orchestras. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut as a pianist in 1982. These current appearances mark his conducting debut with the Orchestra.

As principal conductor of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Mr. Zacharias made a number of acclaimed recordings, including a cycle of the complete Mozart piano concertos, which was awarded the Diapason d’Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, and the ECHO Klassik award. With that ensemble he most recently recorded the four Schumann symphonies and symphonies by C.P.E. Bach. Mr. Zacharias also maintains close ties with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, of which he was principal guest conductor for many years. In 2009 he became an Artistic Partner of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Zacharias enjoys long-term relationships with orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, Residentie Orkest of The Hague, Orchestre National de Lyon, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Bamberg Symphony. In recent seasons he has turned his attention to opera, leading productions of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito and Le nozze di Figaro, and Offenbach’s La belle Hélène. In 2015 he will lead Otto Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège. In the 2014-15 season Mr. Zacharias conducts the Boston Symphony and the Orchestre de Paris, in addition to touring with the Stuttgart Philharmonic and the Basel Chamber Orchestra, and visiting Moscow for several concerts and recitals. In November he will join the Leipzig String Quartet for various chamber music recitals.

Since 1990 he has appeared in three films: Domenico Scarlatti in Sevilla, Robert Schumann—der Dichter spricht, and Zwischen Bühne und Künstlerzimmer. Mr. Zacharias was the 2007 MIDEM Classical Awards Artist of the Year and he was also recognized for his contributions to culture in Romania in 2009. He has been named an Officier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Since 2011 he has been professor for orchestral performance at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg.

(October 2014)