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One of the pre-eminent conductors of his generation, James Conlon has conducted in virtually every musical capital in the United States, Europe and Japan. In August 1996 Mr Conlon became Principal Conductor of the Paris Opera. He is also concurrently the General Music Director of the city of Cologne, Germany as well as that city's Chief Conductor of its opera, since 1989, the first person in 45 years to assume artistic responsibility for both the symphonic and operatic life in that city.
Since 1979, Mr Conlon has also been Music Director of the Cincinnati May Festival, the oldest choral music festival in the United States. Mr Conlon was formerly Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic from 1983 through 1991.
Having taken up his full responsibilities as Principal Conductor at the Paris Opera in August 1996 (he was Music Advisor for the 95/96 season) Mr Conlon conducts three new productions in season 1996/97: in the Bastille, he leads a new production of Rigoletto by Jerôme Savary, (to be televised) and a revival of Lohengrin (Robert Carsen production); in the famed Palais Garnier, he conducts Robert Wilson's new production of Pelléas et Mélisande. In addition to opera performances, Mr Conlon directs the annual concert series of the Paris Opera Orchestra in both the Bastille and Palais Garnier, and this season conducts three of the programs. Last season, as Music Advisor, he returned to the Paris Opera after a decade with a new production of La Boheme by Jonathan Miller and initiated his symphonic concert involvement with a performance of the Mahler 2nd symphony with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Paris Opera.
During the 1996/97 season in Cologne, Mr Conlon conducts a new Robert Carsen production of Falstaff, and revives Otello, two of the Verdi Shakespeare opera trilogy. Highlights of his symphonic season include a concertante Die Meistersinger, opening the 10th Anniversary Season celebration of Cologne's renowned Philharmonie concert hall; concertante performances of Parsifal and the Zemlinsky rarity Eine florentinische Tragödie; the completion of his 4 year survey of the symphonies of Gustav Mahler; and the continuation of a three-year Beethoven Cycle, in which all the Beethoven symphonies and instrumental concerti will be performed.
This season Mr Conlon also makes guest appearances with the Pittsburgh Symphony and Boston Symphony Orchestra, and in addition to his Cincinnati May Festival concerts, will conduct the final and prize winning concert of the 1997 Van Cliburn Competition.
Long-associated with the Metropolitan Opera (he made his debut in 1976) he has conducted a wide range of works there in the Italian, German, French, Russian, and Czech repertory, in more than 200 performances with the Company. Most recently, he celebrated his association by conducting two 20th century masterworks, Dmitri Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes.
Since his New York Philharmonic debut in 1974 at the invitation of Pierre Boulez, Mr Conlon has appeared with virtually every major orchestra in the United States and Canada, including those of Chicago, Boston, Cleveland, New York, Pittsburgh and Washington, DC. In Europe he has often appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, the London Symphony, l'Orchestre National de France, Staatskapelle Dresden, l'Orchestra di Santa Cecilia, the Orchestra of the City of Birmingham and the Kirov Opera St Petersburg.
Mr Conlon made his London Royal Opera, Covent Garden debut in 1979, conducting Don Carlo, and first appeared at the Paris Opera in 1982 conducting a new production of Il Taborro and I Pagliacci. He subsequently conducted productions of Tosca, Boris Godunov and Entführung aus dem Serail. He inaugurated the 1985 Maggio Musicale Florentino with a production of Don Carlo. His Chicago Lyric Opera debut was in 1988 conducting Verdi's La Forza del Destino and has since conducted productions of Falstaff, Don Carlo and Pelléas et Mélisande. In 1993 he made his Milano La Scala debut with Weber's Oberon.
Mr Conlon became Chief Conductor of the Cologne Opera in 1989, and the next season was named Music Director of that city's historic Gürzenich-Orchestra/Cologne Philharmonic. Each season he conducts several productions in a wide variety of repertoire, as well as many symphonic programs. During his tenure, he brought the Cologne Opera on its first ever and acclaimed tour of Japan (1992) conducting performances of Der Fliegend Holländer, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, a premiere in Japan.
Mr Conlon was the Musical Director of the soundtrack to Madama Butterfly, a film of the Puccini opera, directed by Frédéric Mitterand, which was released in 1996, with Mr Conlon conducting the Orchèstre de Paris. The audio release of the soundtrack, on Sony Classical, has been gathering international awards and acclaim, among them, the 1995 Pierre Bellan prize for best film soundtrack.
Mr Conlon has appeared many times on television: in Germany with the Gürzenich-Orchestra/Cologne Philharmonic; in France with the Paris Opera; and in the United States conducting two Metropolitan Opera telecasts (Tosca, 1978 and Semirande, 1991), with the National Symphony Orchestra in their annual July 4 Capital Steps concerts.
He made his professional debut in 1971 at the Spoleto Festival conducting Boris Godunov. While still a student in February 1972 he made his debut in New York conducting La Boheme at the Juilliard School as a protégé of Maria Callas. He was born in New York City in 1959, and is a graduate and former faculty member of the Juilliard School.
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