Christoph Poppen

Karel Mark Chichon

Principal Conductor

Hailed as one of today’s most exciting young conductors, Karel Mark Chichon was described by the New York Times as “A conductor of genius” and continues to thrill international audiences with his temperament, passion and musicianship. In recognition to his services to music, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England made Chichon an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in June 2012.
Since 2011 he is Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern and is also Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra since 2009. His previous positions include Chief Conductor of the Graz Symphony Orchestra (2006-2009).
In addition to his posts in Saarbrücken and Riga, Chichon regularly conducts at the Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Teatro dell’ Opera di Roma, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Real Madrid, Gran Teatre del Liceu and with orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Wiener Symphoniker, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Russian National Orchestra in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Turin, Bologna, Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.
Future debuts include Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera New York and La Bohème at Teatro alla Scala Milan.
In December 2010, he made a thrilling debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam for a set of four subcription concerts, stepping in for Antonio Pappano at short notice. These concerts were immediately acclaimed by the critics and audience.
He made his first recording for Deutsche Grammophon in March 2010 conducting the
Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI which was released in September 2010.
Born in London in 1971, Chichon hails from Gibraltar. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music (London) and was assistant conductor to Giuseppe Sinopoli and Valery Gergiev.
Since 2003 he has been a regular guest conductor with the English Chamber Orchestra and in 2004 he was invited by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to conduct concerts at their International Orchestra Institute in Salzburg and made highly successful return visits in 2005 and 2006.
He is a frequent guest conductor with leading orchestras throughout the world at venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Musikverein Vienna, Konzerthaus Vienna,Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Royal Festival Hall London, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Paris, Munich Philharmonie, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Alter Oper Frankfurt, Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Auditorio Nacional de Musica Madrid and Seoul Arts Center South Korea.

August 2012

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