Faculty Claus Peter Flor     Respected by musicians the world over as a hugely gifted conductor, and for his instinctive musicality, Claus Peter Flor is steeped in the central European tradition.     In September 2003 he took up the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, with a personal remit from their Music Director Riccardo Chailly to develop the orchestra’s work in the central European repertoire. He also currently holds the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.     Born in Leipzig in 1953, he was taught the violin in Weimar and Leipzig, and subsequently studied conducting with Rolf Reuter and later on with Rafael Kubelik and Kurt Sanderling. At the age of 31 he became General Music Director of the Berlin Symphony, also conducting the other major (East-) German orchestras: Leipzig Gewandhaus and Dresden Staatskapelle. In 1988 he made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, where he has returned twice. From 1991-94 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London holding the position alongside that of Artistic Advisor to the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zürich from 1991-96.     Claus Peter Flor has appeared regularly with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Bamberg Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic and the radio orchestras of Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Leipzig as well as guesting with the Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian State Opera Orchestra, London Symphony, NHK Symphony & Yomiuri Orchestra, La Scala Milan among others. Since his American debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1985 he has also worked with the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and New York Philharmonic, and he is a frequent visitor to Montreal, St Louis, Houston and Minnesota.     He has conducted opera productions in Munich, Dresden, Hamburg, Cologne, the Deutsche Oper and the Berlin Staatsoper, where he returned in January 2000 for performances of Freischütz. This was followed by a new production of Meistersinger at La Monnaie in Brussels, which he then took to Tokyo in June 2002. In 2004, he conducted a concert performance of Rienzi in Paris with the Orchestre National de France. He has conducted Figaro at La Monnaie and in Toulouse. In 2003 Claus Peter Flor conducted Die Zauberflöte for Houston Grand Opera and Toulouse Opera, Euryanthe for Netherlands Opera with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and La Boheme for Dallas Opera. He returns to Toulouse Opera in 2005/06 and future seasons, conducting Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflöte .     Engagements in the 2005/06 season have included visits to the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Zürich Tonhalle, Orchestre de Paris, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Malaysian Philharmonic, Residentie Orchestra, and Singapore Symphony as well as return visits to the Verdi Orchestra Milan, Houston and Dallas Symphonies, and the Toulouse Opera (Così fan tutte).     In 2006/7 Mr Flor makes appearances with, among others, the Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Netherlands Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Residentie Orchestra, Verdi Orchestra Milan, Cagliari Orchestra, KBS Seoul and Guangzhou Symphony. He also returns to Toulouse Opera where he will conduct Die Zauberflöte.     Claus Peter Flor has made many recordings for BMG Classics/RCA Victor Red Seal, most notably Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony with the Royal Concertgebouw, Martinu symphonies with the Berlin Symphony, Mozart and Weber with the Philharmonia (with Haydn, Szymanowski and Janacek to be released), Zemlinsky with the Hamburg Radio, and a highly acclaimed Mendelssohn cycle with the Bamberg Symphony. He also recorded the world premiere recording of Bruch’s Oratorio “Moses” with the Bamberg Symphony for Orfeo.