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The Latvian conductor, Andris Nelsons, was born to a musical family. His mother founded the first early music ensemble in Latvia, and his father was a choral conductor, cellist, and teacher. At age 5, his mother and stepfather (a choir conductor) took him to a performance of Wagner's Tannhäuser, which Nelsons refers to as a profoundly formative experience: "...it had a hypnotic effect on me. I was overwhelmed by the music. I cried when Tannhäuser died. I still think this was the biggest thing that happened in my childhood." As a youth, he studied piano, and took up the trumpet at age 12. He also sang bass-baritone, with a special interest in early music, in his mother's ensemble. He studied for one summer at the Dartington International Summer School with Evelyn Tubb. He served as a trumpeter with the orchestra of the Latvian National Opera. He studied conducting with Alexander Titov in Saint Petersburg, Russia and participated in conducting master-classes with Neeme Järvi, Roberto Carnevale and Jorma Panula. He came to the attention of Mariss Jansons when he emergency-substituted with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in their trumpet section during an orchestra tour. He counts Mariss Jansons as a mentor and has been a conducting student with him since 2002.
In 2003, Andris Nelsons became Principal Conductor of the Latvian National Opera. He concluded his tenure there after four years in 2007. In 2006, he became Chief Conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie of Herford, Germany, a post he held until the end of the 2008-2009 season. His first conducting appearance at the Metropolitan Opera was in October 2009, a production of Turandot. In July 2010, he made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival, conducting a new production of Wagner's Lohengrin at the opening performance of the festival.
In the UK, Andris Nelsons's early work included studio concerts with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in Manchester, and his first BBC Philharmonic Orchestra concert at the Bridgewater Hall was in November 2007. In October 2007, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) named Nelsons as its 12th Principal Conductor and Music Director, effective with the 2008-2009 season, with an initial contract for three years. The appointment was unusual in that Nelsons had conducted the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra only in a private concert and in a recording session, without a public concert engagement, prior to being named to the post. His first public conducting appearance with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was on November 11, 2007 in a matinee concert, and his first subscription concert appearance with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was in March 2008. In July 2009, Nelsons extended his City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra contract for an additional three years, through the 2013-2014 season. In August 2012, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra announced the extension of his City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra contract formally through the 2014-2015 season, and then for subsequent seasons on the basis of an annual rolling renewal. In October 2013, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra announced the conclusion of Nelsons's tenure as Music Director after the end of the 2014-2015 season.
In the USA, Nelsons made his first guest-conducting appearance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) in March 2011, as an emergency substitute for James Levine at Carnegie Hall. He subsequently guest-conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Music Festival in July 2012, and made his first appearance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall, Boston in January 2013. In May 2013, the Boston Symphony Orchestra named Nelsons as its 15th Music Director effective the 2014-2015 season. His initial contract was for 5 years and stipulated 8 to 10 weeks of scheduled appearances in the first year of the contract and 12 weeks in subsequent years. Nelsons held the title of Music Director Designate in the 2013-2014 season. In August 2015, the Boston Symphony Orchestra announced the extension of Nelsons's contract as music director through the 2021-2022 season with a new contract, for eight years, that replaced the initial five-year contract, and also contained an evergreen clause for automatic renewal. In October 2020, the Boston Symphony Orchestra announced a further extension of Nelsons' contract as music director through August 2025, with an evergreen clause for automatic renewal.
Andris Nelsons first guest-conducted the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in 2011. In September 2015, the orchestra announced the appointment of Nelsons as its next Gewandhauskapellmeister, effective with the 2017-2018 season, with an initial contract of 5 seasons. In October 2020, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig announced the most recent extension of his contract as Gewandhauskapellmeister through July 31, 2027.
In 2020-2021 season, Andris Nelsons looks forward to returning to the Berliner Philharmoniker and Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphonieorchester. Other orchestras Nelsons has established regular collaborations with throughout his career include the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, and the Wiener Philharmoniker, with whom he conducted the prestigious New Year’s Day concert in 2020, broadcast to millions across the world. Furthermore, in celebration of L.v. Beethoven’s 250th anniversary, the Wiener Philharmoniker and Nelsons presented a cycle of L.v. Beethoven’s symphonies on tour last season at the Philharmonie de Paris, Philharmonie am Gasteig in Munich, and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. He has also enjoyed conducting as a regular guest at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and at the Bayreuther Festspiele.
Andris Nelsons has an exclusive recording relationship with Deutsche Grammophon, which has paved the way for three landmark projects with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the Wiener Philharmoniker. With the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons has recorded music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, and Igor Stravinsky for the Orfeo label. Separately from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, he has also recorded for the BR-Klassik label and for the label of the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam. Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra partner on recordings of the complete Dmitri Shostakovich symphonies and the opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. The cycle, already recipient of four Grammy awards in the categories Best Orchestral Performance and Best Engineered Album, releases its fifth instalment this season. Furthermore, Neand the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig continue their critically acclaimed Bruckner symphonic cycle under the Yellow Label, and also releases its fifth instalment this season. Nelsons’ recordings of L.v. Beethoven’s complete symphonies with the Wiener Philharmoniker were released by Deutsche Grammophon in October 2019. In December 2019 and January 2020, he conducted for the first time the Vienna New Year's Concert with the Wiener Philharmoniker, where he performed the trumpet solo in the Postillon-Galopp of Hans Christian Lumbye, the first conductor to perform a solo in the Vienna New Year's Concert who is not a violinist. The recording of this concert was released commercially on Sony Classical.
Andris Nelsons was formerly married to the Latvian soprano Kristīne Opolais. They met during Nelsons's tenure at Latvian National Opera, when she was a member of the Latvian National Opera chorus, and later became a solo singer with the company. The couple married in 2011. Their daughter, Adriana Anna, was born on December 28, 2011. The couple announced their divorce on March 27, 2018. Nelsons remarried in April 2019, to the former Alice Heidler. |
