James MacMillan announced as Principal Guest Conductor
Friday 23 January 2009
James MacMillan has been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic for three years, starting in September 2010. Succeeding Peter Eötvös, MacMillan looks forward to developing the work of the Radio Chamber Philharmonic alongside Chief Conductor Jaap van Zweden, Chief Guest Conductor Philippe Herreweghe and Honorary Conductor Frans Brüggen.
The relationship will involve concerts with the Radio Chamber Philharmonic in each of their main series – the ZaterdagMatinee series at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw; the Vrijdag van Vredenburg in Utrecht; the contemporary series at Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ and in the Concertgebouw’s Sunday morning series. Alongside these performances, MacMillan and the orchestra will continue an ongoing recording relationship with BIS, and MacMillan will also be involved in touring projects and educational activies with the orchestra.
Musicians from the Radio Chamber Philharmonic first worked with James MacMillan as members of the (now defunct) Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra in February 2003. In 2005 he conducted his own music with the newly formed Radio Chamber Philharmonic: Symphony No. 2 and Tryst, marking the beginning of what has become an inspiring relationship between MacMillan and the orchestra, both in terms of his conducting and the exploration of his own music. Most recently, MacMillan has recorded his music for future release on the BIS label and in January 2009 he conducted a concert in the prestigious ZaterdagMatinee series at the Concertgebouw (Britten’s Prelude and Fugue op. 29, Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto and MacMillan’s Seven Last Words).
MacMillan is one of today’s most successful living composers, whose prolific output has been performed and broadcast around the world, placing him in the front rank of today’s composers. His musical language is flooded with influences from his Scottish heritage, his Roman Catholic faith, social conscience and close connection with Celtic folk music, blended together with influences from Far Eastern, Scandinavian and Eastern European music. MacMillan’s major works include The Confession of Isobel Gowdie, Veni, Veni, Emmanuel (the percussion concerto which has received more than 400 performances), a cello concerto for Mstislav Rostropovich, a major choral-orchestral work Quickening, and three symphonies. His most recent major works include his new opera The Sacrifice, premiered by Welsh National Opera and conducted by MacMillan, and his St John Passion, premiered by the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis in 2008, with performances in 2009 and 2010 by co-commissioners the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Boston Symphony and Rundfunkchor Berlin.
MacMillan enjoys increasing international success as a conductor, and has been Composer/Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic since September 2000, in which role he has conducted new commissions, recording projects for Chandos and performances at the Bridgewater Hall, BBC Proms, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Athens Megaron, as well as an ongoing series of Composer-portrait concerts, featuring the music of Kalevi Aho, Magnus Lindberg, Harrison Birtwistle, John Casken, Unsuk Chin and Brett Dean. Recent guest conducting highlights include concerts with the Munich Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, Toronto Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony, and Melbourne Symphony.
During the 2008/09 season MacMillan conducts the Rotterdam Philharmonic as part of 'James MacMillan: The Story so Far' - a season long focus on his music in Rotterdam. As part of this he also conducts the Royal Flemish Philharmonic and a performance of his large scale work Quickening with local university and conservatoire students, as well as various other performances of his music across the season. Elsewhere this season, MacMillan conducts the London Symphony Orchestra as part of the City of London Festival, and his music theatre work Parthenogenesis at the Royal Opera House Linbury Theatre with Britten Sinfonia. He also conducts various projects with the BBC Philharmonic as part of his role as Composer-Conductor, including a concert at the Bridgewater Hall in celebration of MacMillan’s 50th birthday.
