Conductor Alan Gilbert first learned to play the violin from his parents—two New York Philharmonic violinists.  Today, he leads the New York Philharmonic as the Music Director, launching what New York magazine called “a fresh future for the Philharmonic.”  (While his father retired in 2001, his mother still performs with the Philharmonic under his direction.)

His creative approach to programming combines works in fresh and innovative ways, and he has developed artistic partnerships, including the positions of The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence and The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence; an annual three-week festival; and the new-music series CONTACT!

During the 2011–12 season Alan Gilbert conducts world premieres, three Mahler symphonies, a residency at London’s Barbican Centre, tours to Europe and California, and a season-concluding musical exploration of space that features Stockhausen’s theatrical immersion, Gruppen, to be co-presented with the Park Avenue Armory. He also made his Philharmonic debut as soloist when he joined Frank Peter Zimmermann in J.S. Bach’s “Concerto for Two Violins.”

Highlights of the previous season included two tours of European music capitals, Carnegie Hall’s 120th Anniversary Concert, and an acclaimed production of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, building on 2010′s wildly successful staging of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, which The New York Times called “an instant Philharmonic milestone.” Other highlights of Mr. Gilbert’s inaugural season included the Asian Horizons tour in October 2009, which included the Orchestra’s Vietnam debut at the historic Hanoi Opera House.

In September 2011 Alan Gilbert became Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at The Juilliard School, where he is also the first to hold the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies. He is Conductor Laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of Hamburg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra. His 2011–12 season engagements include appearances with the Munich Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Royal Swedish Opera, and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic.

Alan Gilbert made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in November 2008 leading John Adams’ Doctor Atomic. His recordings have been nominated for Grammy Awards, and his recording of Mahler’s “Symphony No. 9” received top honors from the Chicago Tribune and Gramophone magazine. Gilbert served as the assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra (1995–97). In May 2010 he received an Honorary Doctor of Music from The Curtis Institute of Music, and in December 2011 he received Columbia University’s Ditson Conductor’s Award for his “exceptional commitment to the performance of works by American composers and to contemporary music.”

(All information adapted from artist website and promotional materials.  Photo by Chris Lee.)