– Born in Lausanne, Switzerland on October 7, 1936
– Enters the “Collège Scientifique Cantonal” of Lausanne, Switzerland and begins studies of the violin
– Enters the Lausanne Conservatory
– Between 1951-55, studies at Lausanne and Geneva conservatories:
violin (Andrée Wachsmuth), piano accompaniment (Rose Dobos), music theory (Robert Mermoud), history of music (Henri Jaton), composition, counterpoint & fugue (Hans Haug), viola (Ron Golan), percussion (Charles Peschier), chamber music (Franz Walter), orchestration (André-François Marescotti) and conducting (Samuel Baud-Bovy)
– First conducting experience in public (Switzerland)
– Plays violin in a youth orchestra performing the French Premiere of Stravinsky’s opera “The Rake’s Progress” in Tours
-As a violinist in the Musica Viva Youth Orchestra, performs Bach’s St John’s Passion in Paris
– Invited to see Lorenzaccio of Alfred de Musset with Gérard Philippe and Honegger’s “Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher” at the Paris Garnier Opera with Ingrid Bergman
– Hears his first jazz concert live with Sydney Bechet
– Receives his violin diploma
– Plays for Karajan’s conducting masterclasses’s orchestra at the Lucerne Festival
– Vacanze Musicale Venezia: violin summer course with Remi Principe at the Marcello Conservatory
– Starts attending Ernest Ansermet’s rehearsals for 3 years
– Tours South America as a viola player in the Collegium Musicum Helveticum Chamber Orchestra
– First concert as a professional conductor with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and Martha Argerich as soloist
– With recommandations from Ernest Ansermet and the cellist Pierre Fournier, receives a full scholarship to study at the Tanglewood Music Center, USA where he meets Pierre Monteux and Charles Munch.
– December: attends Igor Stravinsky’s rehearsals in New York of “Les Noces” with pianists Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss, Samuel Barber and Roger Sessions
– First professional engagement abroad with the Belgrade Philharmonic
– Bern Symphony debut (Stravinsky Norwegian Moods / Berg violin concerto / Beethoven Pastorale Symphony)
– Named Director of the J.S. Bach Choir (Lausanne)
– Conducts Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” for the first time which leads to an invitation by Karajan to the Vienna State Opera to conduct the Austrian Premiere of Manuel de Falla’s “The Three-Cornered Hat” with the choreography of Leonid Massine and the original decors and costumes by Picasso An immediate re-engagement follows with a new production of Tchaikowsky’s “The Swan Lake” with Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev
– Named Associate Conductor to Paul Kletzki at the Bern Symphony and Principal Conductor of the Radio Zürich Orchestra
– London Festival Hall debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the invitation of Rudolf Kempe
– German debut with the Munich Philharmonic
– Start of an expanded international career with invitations to Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Japan and South America
– Succeeds Paul Kletzki as Music Director of the Bern Symphony
During the following 11 years, he performs with such soloists as Fournier, Francescatti, Gilels, Grumiaux, Haendel, Kempf, Kogan, Menuhin, Milstein, Ricci, Rose, Rostropovich, Rubinstein, Schneiderhan, Rudolf Serkin, Szeryng and Tortelier
– Named Associate Conductor to Rudolf Kempe at the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra
– Paris debut with Itzhak Perlman as soloist (ORTF)
– Lucerne International Music Festival debut: youngest conductor ever to appear at the festival
– First recording for Erato: Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale”
– Japan debut at the Osaka World Fair with the Yomiuri Orchestra and soloists Lisa Della Casa & Aurèle Nicolet
– South Africa debuts (Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban Symphonies)
– First recording for DGG: Tchaikowsky piano concerto No 1 with Martha Argerich and the RPO
– Los Angeles Philharmonic debut at the Hollywood Bowl
– National Symphony of Mexico debut
– Named Music Director of the Gothenburg Symphony (Sweden)
– OSM (Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal) debut, followed by an immediate appointment as Music Director
– Australian Broadcasting Corporation debut: concerts in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobarth
Debuts:
– Berlin (RIAS)
– Mostly Mozart (NY)
– First recording for DECCA with the OSM: Ravel’s “Daphnis & Chloé” complete Ballet
– Philadelphia Orchestra debut (July 14, 1980)
– Berlin Philharmonic debut (September 18, 1980)
– Milan La Scala debut with Salvatore Accardo as soloist
Debuts:
– Boston Symphony
– Munich Bayerische Rundfunk
– Pittsburgh Symphony
– Saratoga Performing Arts Center, NY (Philadelphia Orchestra)
– Edinburgh Festival
– Named Great Montrealer
Debuts:
– New York Philharmonic
– Chicago Symphony
– Cleveland Orchestra
– Cincinnati Orchestra
– St Paul Chamber Orchestra
– Besançon Festival
– Aix-en-Provence Festival
– Named Principal Guest Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra
– London Covent Garden debut (Faust)
– Detroit Symphony debut
– Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Montreal
Debuts:
– Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra
– Hamburg NDR
– Washington National Symphony
– Houston Symphony
– Docteur en Musique, University of Laval (Canada)
Debuts:
– San Francisco Symphony
– Indianapolis Symphony
Debuts:
– Maggio Fiorentino (The Damnation of Faust)
– NHK Symphony (Tokyo)
– New York Metropolitan Opera (The Tales of Hoffmann)
– Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
– Honorary Citizen of the city of Philadelphia
– Named Music Director of the Orchestre National de France
– Named Artistic Director of the Philadelphia orchestra’s summer’s activities at the Mann Music Centre (Philadelphia) and at the Saratoga Performing Arts Centre (NY)
Debuts:
– Wiener Symphoniker, debut
– Los Angeles Opera (Berlioz Les Troyens)
– Deutsche Oper, debut (The Damnation of Faust with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau & Julia Varady)
– Wins first GRAMMY (Berlioz Les Troyens)
– Grand Officier de l’Ordre National du Québec
– Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France
– Doctorem Musicae, McGill University
– Named Principal Conductor of the NHK Symphony in Tokyo, in 1998, Music Director and in 2003, Conductor Emeritus
– Debut in China with the Orchestre National de France (Chinese Premiere of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring)
– Named Artistic Director of the Pacific Music Festival (PMF, Japan)
– Honorary Officer of the Order of Canada
– Buenos Aires Opera at Teatro Colón (Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman)
– Named Artistic Director – Miyazaki Festival, Japan
– Named Music Director and Founder with his wife, Chantal Juillet of the Canton International Summer Music Academy (CISMA, China)
– Golden Medal, City of Lausanne
– Named Chief Conductor – Philadelphia Orchestra
– Named Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
– Named Music Director of Verbier Festival Orchestra (Switzerland), becoming Conductor Emeritus in 2017
– Artistic Advisor of the Shanghai Symphony
– Named co-director with Long Yu of Shanghai’s Music in the Summer Air Festival (MISA)
– Doctor of Music, Curtis Institute, Philadelphia
– Rome Opera “Samson & Dalila”
– Travels to North Korea to work on a meeting of North and South young musicians
– Moscow State Academic Symphony (Svetlanov) debut
– Lifetime Achievement Award from ICMA (International Classical Music Awards), Warsaw
– Honorary Member, Stravinsky Foundation, Geneva
– Novosibirsk Trans-Siberian Arts Festival debut
– Lauréat 2016, Fondation Vaudoise pour la Culture, Lausanne
– St Petersburg Philharmonic (Russia) debut
– Honorary Committee Member, Ravel Foundation, France
– Lifetime Honorary Professor of Nanjing University of the Arts
– Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal (London)
– Performed the US Premiere of Stravinsky’s “Chant Funèbre” with the Chicago Symphony on April 6, 2017
– Named Principal Guest Conductor of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic at the invitation of Yuri Temirkanov
– Guest Conductor at Matsumoto Ozawa Festival, Japan
– Premio una Vita nella Musica, Teatro La Fenice, Venice
