Paavo Järvi

Grammy award-winning Paavo Järvi is now in his fourth season as Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris and this season returns with the orchestra to Japan, Ho-Chi Minh City, the BBC Proms, Enescu Music Festival Bucharest, and Vienna’s Musikverein for a three-concert residency. They also appear in Alte Oper Frankfurt’s Stravinsky Focus. In 2012/13 Järvi was appointed Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, for his contribution to music in France. He will take up the position of Chief Conductor with the NHK Symphony Orchestra from the beginning of the 2015/16 season.

Since 2004 Paavo Järvi has been Artistic Director of The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. 2012/13 ended with a tour to South America where they performed a complete Beethoven symphony cycle in São Paulo. Highlights this season include Beethoven’s Fidelio at Beethovenfest Bonn and at Minato Mirai, Yokohama, where the orchestra has close relationships with both organizations. For Sony, Järvi and the orchestra have released the complete Schumann Symphonies and critically acclaimed recordings of the complete Beethoven’s Symphonies, for which he received the 2010 ECHO Klassik Conductor of the Year Award and the prestigious 2007 Jahrepreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik Prize. The orchestra will also perform in Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam, Boston, New York, Tokyo and at the 2014 Schleswig Holstein, Lanaudiere and Warsaw Easter Festivals.

The 2013/14 season sees Järvi start a new relationship with Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra as Conductor Laureate, following a highly successful period as their Music Director. During his tenure, they have appeared together at festivals such as the BBC Proms, Rheingau Musik Festival and the Robeco Summer series (Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw) as well as on numerous tours in Asia. Recordings with the orchestra include the complete Bruckner Symphonies (Sony), the future release of the Nielsen Symphonies, complete Mahler Symphonies (on DVD) and most recently, in collaboration with Frank Peter Zimmermann, the Hindemith Violin Concerto – alongside which Järvi was awarded the International Paul Hindemith Prize 2012.

As a guest conductor, last season Paavo Järvi performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Philharmonia Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra as part of the Stars of the White Nights Festival. This season he returns to the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Münchner Philharmoniker, Russian National Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker and Staatskapelle Dresden.

In the 2010/11 season, Järvi completed a highly successful ten-year tenure as Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, leaving behind a legacy of extensive touring, and 16 award-winning recordings for Telarc. In recognition of his work with the orchestra, he was appointed Music Director Laureate, and returns to the orchestra each season.

Since the start of his career Paavo Järvi has prioritised his support of Estonian composers including Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Lepo Sumera and Eduard Tubin. He is currently Artistic Adviser of the Pärnu Festival and Järvi Academy, where he supports young talent through conducting masterclasses. He is also Artistic Adviser of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and was named Estonian Public Broadcasting’s 2012 Musician of the Year. In January 2013, Järvi was awarded the Order of the White Star by the President of Estonia for his outstanding contribution to Estonian Culture.

Under the Erato banner, he has initiated a series of recordings with the Orchestre de Paris - the first of which, released in January 2015, is a tribute to the French composer Henri Dutilleux.