CLAUS PETER FLOR

Principal Conductor

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 recently renewed his contract as Principal Guest Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra until 2007.

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 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.

Forthcoming engagements include visits to the Orchestre de Paris, Vienna Symphony, Berlin Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra and Zürich Tonhalle. 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.