The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra – Bavarian State Philharmonic has always enjoyed a special status in the music world. The Orchestra can count on the support of 6,000 subscribers – an extraordinary number in a city of only 70,000 inhabitants. And today, as ever, the Bamberg Symphony flies the city’s flag on the international concert stage and acts as “Bavaria’s Cultural Ambassador to the World” in the musical capitals of several continents. Over 6,500 concerts in more than 60 countries and 500 cities – with that record, the Bamberg Symphony is rightly considered the German touring orchestra. Evidence of the outstanding reputation it enjoys everywhere comes in constant invitations to visit leading festivals and to tour at home and abroad, and in prizes for the Orchestra’s recordings, e.g. the MIDEM Classical Award, the International “Toblach Composing Hut” Record Prize or the “ECHO Klassik”.

That reputation is also in no small part due to the Principal and Guest Conductors who have led and shaped the Bamberg Symphony over the decades. Since January 2000, the Orchestra’s artistic direction has been in the hands of Jonathan Nott. Alongside him, Herbert Blomstedt has also played a distinguished role in Bamberg as Honorary Conductor since March 2006; and from 2010 to 2013 Robin Ticciati was Principal Guest Conductor.

The Orchestra and its Principal Conductor appear regularly together as guests at all the top festivals: It performed at the Salzburg Festival (2004) and Beijing Music Festival (2008), at London’s Proms (2009 and 2013) and other prominent festivals. In the summer 2013, on the occasion of Richard Wagner’s 200th birthday, the Bamberg Symphony was orchestra in residence at Lucerne Festival where they performed Wagner’s “Ring” under the baton of Jonathan Nott. On New Year’s Eve 2013, the orchestra held the official New Year’s concert in Beijing which was broadcast nationwide live on TV.

Jonathan Nott Conductor

In the 80’s, Jonathan Nott left Britain to develop his conducting career in Germany via the traditional Kapellmeister system. In 1991 Jonathan Nott took up the post of First Kapellmeister at the Hessisches Staatstheater in Wiesbaden and during the 1995/1996 season was also the house’s interim General-musikdirektor.

Jonathan Nott took up his post as Principal Conductor of the Bamberg Symphony in 2000. At the helm of this Orchestra, so steeped in tradition, Jonathan Nott has enjoyed huge success ever since inheriting the mantle of his predecessors, a legacy he is maintaining well into the 21st Century.

Under Jonathan Nott the Orchestra has tackled the most diverse repertoire, but most recently the Orchestra’s main focus has been on the music of Mahler. A project that they have been working on for ten years has been finished: The recording of all completed symphonies of Gustav Mahler. The CD of the Ninth has won several prestigious prizes, such as the 2010 MIDEM Classical Award.

In 2004 the Orchestra mounted the first Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition – won by Gustavo Dudamel – which was quickly recognized internationally as a first-class forum for the development of new musical talent. Ever since that first competition, Jonathan Nott has been President of the Competition’s jury.

During the last few years Jonathan Nott has stood at the helm of nearly all the leading orchestras of Europe and the US, such as Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic.

Cellist: Mischa Maisky

Maisky is the only cellist in the world to have studied with both Mstislav Rostropovich and Gregor Piatigorsky. Rostropovich has lauded Mischa Maisky as “one of the most outstanding talents of the younger generation of cellists. His playing combines poetry and exquisite delicacy with great temperament and brilliant technique.”

Born in Latvia, educated in Russia, after his repatriation to Israel, Mischa Maisky has been enthusiastically received in London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, New York and Tokyo, along with the rest of the major music centers. One of the highlights in his career was the year 2000 - it was mainly devoted to a world-wide Bach tour which included over 100 concerts. In order to express his deep admiration for this great composer, Mischa Maisky has recorded Bach’s Solo Suites for the third time.

As an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist during the last 25 years he made well over 30 recordings with such orchestras as Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orpheus und Chamber Orchestra of Europe and others. His recordings have enjoyed worldwide critical acclaim and have been awarded five times the prestigious Record Academy Prize in Tokyo, three times Echo, Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, Grand Prix du Disque in Paris and Diapason d’Or of the Year as well as the coveted Grammy nominations.

Truly a world-class musician and regular guest in most major International Festivals he collaborated with such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Charles Dutoit, Carlo Maria Giulini, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, James Levine, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Daniel Barenboim and his partnerships have included artists as Martha Argerich, Radu Lupu, Nelson Freire, Evgeny Kissin, Lang Lang, Peter Serkin, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengerov, Joshua Bell, Janine Jansen and so on.

"Together, I think they’ve created one of the most exciting partnerships in orchestral music."

- The Guardian

17th May FM94.7 Classical Music Festival

18th May, 2015, 19:30 Shanghai Oriental Art Center

20th May, Shandong Grand Theatre

22nd May, Tianjin Grand Theatre

23rd May, National Centre for the Performing Arts