Utah Symphony | Utah Opera has announced the appointment of THIERRY FISCHER as the Utah Symphony’s seventh music director. His appointment, effective immediately, is for four years, with an option to renew his contract for an additional three years in December 2011. Fischer will conduct one performance with the Utah Symphony in 2009-10, but has taken a lead role in planning the season. He will conduct five Masterworks performances in 2010-11 and a minimum of twelve in successive seasons, spending a substantial proportion of each year in Salt Lake City. A native of Switzerland, Fischer is also principal conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and chief conductor of Japan’s Nagoya Philharmonic; his contract with the latter runs through March 2011. He began his musical career as a flutist, serving in principal posts at the Zurich Opera, in Hamburg, and with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. In Zurich Fischer studied scores with conductor/cellist Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and began conducting when called upon to replace an ailing colleague. He subsequently directed concerts of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and honed his craft as an apprentice conductor in Holland. Fischer has since appeared with many of the leading orchestras in the U.K. and Europe.
Posted September 24, 2009
