Daniel Harding
- This article refers to the British conductor Daniel Harding. For the footballer, please see Dan Harding.
Daniel Harding (born 31 August 1975) is a British conductor.
Harding was born in Oxford. He studied trumpet at Chetham's School of Music and was a member of the National Youth Orchestra at age 13.[1] At age 17, Harding assembled a group of musicians to perform Pierrot Lunaire of Arnold Schoenberg, and sent a tape of the performance to Simon Rattle in Birmingham. After listening to this tape, Rattle hired Harding as an assistant to him at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for a year, from 1993-1994. Harding then attended the University of Cambridge, but after his first year at university, Claudio Abbado named him his assistant with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.[2] Harding first conducted the Berlin Philharmonic at age 21. At the time of his first conducting appearance at The Proms in 1996, he was then the youngest-ever conductor to appear there.[3] Harding has stated that he has never had formal conducting lessons.[4]
In 1997, Harding was the Music Director of the Ojai Music Festival alongside pianist Emanuel Ax. Harding has been music director of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra (1997–2000), the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (1999–2003) and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (2003-2008). Harding now has the title of conductor laureate with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. He conducted the 2005 opening night at La Scala, Milan in Idomeneo, as a substitute after the resignation of Riccardo Muti earlier in 2005.[5]
In 2004, Harding was appointed principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), as of 2006. One of his new projects with the LSO involves the 'Sound Adventures' program for new compositions.[6] With the LSO, he has conducted a commercial recording of the opera Billy Budd for EMI Classics.[7] He became the Principal Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2007. In September 2009, he extended his contract as the orchestra's principal conductor through 2012.[8] In April 2013, the orchestra further announced the extension of Harding's contract to 2015.[9] With the orchestra, he has recorded commercially for the Sony Classical label.[10] From September 2010, Harding holds the title "Music Partner of NJP (New Japan Philharmonic)". [11] And from April 2012, Harding also holds the title of the Artistic Director of the Ohga Hall in Karuizawa, Japan. [12] In June 2015, the Orchestre de Paris announced the appointment of Harding as its 9th principal conductor, effective September 2016.[13]
Harding has two children, Adele and George, from his past marriage to Béatrice Muthelet, a violist and co-principal violist of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. The marriage ended in divorce.[4] Harding is a particular fan of the football club Manchester United.
References
- ↑ Robert Hanks (2005-12-10). "Daniel Harding: Lightning conductor". The Independent. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
- ↑ Michael Henderson (2006-07-30). "Daniel Harding: Conducting his life with brio". The Observer. Retrieved 2007-01-06.
- ↑ Stephen Moss (2004-10-19). "Prodigy on the podium". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
- 1 2 Michael White (2011-02-27). "Prodigy Ages Into a Merely Young Conductor". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
- ↑ Barbara McMahon (2005-12-08). "Milan's opera world divided as British conductor takes on La Scala". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-01-06.
- ↑ Edward Seckerson (2007-03-22). "Daniel Harding: LSO's boy wonder". The Independent. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
- ↑ Andrew Clements (2008-09-19). "Classical review: Britten: Billy Budd, Gunn/Bostridge/Saks/LSO & Chorus/Harding". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
- ↑ Bo Löfvendahl (17 September 2009). "SR förlänger med dirigent". Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
- ↑ "Harding kvar hos Radiosymfonikerna". Svenska Dagbladet. 2013-04-17. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
- ↑ Tim Ashley (2010-11-11). "Strauss: Oboe Concerto; Serenade in E Flat; Suite in B Flat – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
- ↑ "Daniel Harding Music Partner of NJP" (Press release). New Japan Philharmonic. 1 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-01.
- ↑ "Daniel Harding Selected as Karuizawa Ohga Hall's First Artistic Director" (Press release). Ohga Hall, Karuizawa. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
- ↑ "Daniel Harding nouveau directeur musical de l'Orchestre de Paris et Thomas Hengelbrock chef associé à partir de la saison 2016-2017" (PDF) (Press release). Orchestre de Paris. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
External links
- Daniel Harding official website
- Columbia Artists Management agency page on Harding
- Askonas Holt agency page on Harding
Cultural offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Thomas Hengelbrock |
Music Director, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Bremen 1999-2003 |
Succeeded by Paavo Järvi |
Preceded by Manfred Honeck |
Principal Conductor, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra 2007-present |
Succeeded by incumbent |