Andris Nelsons Arrives on the World Stage

Latvian-born conductor Andris Nelsons has recently emerged as one of the leading conductors of his generation. He is just thirty-two but he is in great demand all over the world. His home base is Birmingham, England where he is music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Simon Rattle built his reputation with this orchestra and Nelsons may well follow a similar career path. Later this year Nelsons will guest conduct Rattle's Berlin Philharmonic for the first time and also make his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic. He conducted Turandot at the Met last season and leads Lohengrin at Bayreuth this summer. Nelsons was a trumpet player in the Latvian National Opera Orchestra and later became its music director.

Andris Nelsons has recorded music by Tchaikovsky and Richard Strauss for Orfeo International. For more about Nelsons visit his website at www.andrisnelsons.com.

This video tells how Nelsons was chosen as music director by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

- Paul E. Robinson