Sensitivity for depth and balance and an infectious dynamism are the hallmarks of Jonathan Darlington’s work. As music director of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra and music director of Vancouver Opera since 2002, his demand for the highest level of professionalism and precision, infused with genuine enthusiasm, has ever increased the quality and popularity of both orchestras.

With the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra, whose profile he has significantly moulded over the past years, he conducts eight subscription weeks each season in a broad range of symphonic repertoire, as well as concert tours, festival guest engagements and live recordings. With the Vancouver Opera, he conducts two new productions each season (Eugene Onegin and Salome in 08/09), together with gala concerts and Opera in Concert events including Pelléas et Mélisand, Der Freischütz, Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

His most recent operatic successes include the world première of Manfred Trojahn’s La Grande Magia (May 2008) with the Staatskapelle Dresden, Gustave Charpentier’s Louise (October 2008) with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Eugene Onegin (November 2008) with Vancouver Opera. Jonathan Darlington recently conducted memorable concerts with the Strasbourg Philharmonic, the Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg and last season directed the Duisburg Philharmonic’s second concert tour through major cities in China , including Wuhan , Shanghai and Beijing .

Besides Duisburg and Vancouver , 2009 will take him to the podiums of the the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchester, the Sydney Opera House (Fidelio), and the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto (Stravinsky triple bill). He will also return to the stage as accompanist for Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin with the renowned baritone Dietrich Henschel.

Jonathan Darlington’s vast symphonic and operatic repertoire ranges from the baroque to the contemporary, including lesser known works outside the European mainstream. He has a reputation for structuring programmes that take the listener on a fascinating musical journey, owing to their strong inner dramaturgy. He is especially committed to exploring connections between less easily accessible contemporary works and well known classical ones, surprising his audience with unexpected connections and resemblances. Fluent in several languages and at home in three countries, he thrives on the music making that comes as a result of the contact with different cultures and traditions.

Renowned for his broad repertoire, he makes regular guest appearances with major orchestras and opera houses the world over. He has conducted virtually all the major orchestras in France and entertains strong relations to, most notably, the Orchestre National de France, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra Sinfonica del San Carlo di Napoli, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the National Orchestra of Taiwan, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, the English National Opera and the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. He is a regular guest of many major European festivals, such as Amsterdam , Montreux and the Piano Festival Ruhr ( Germany ), as well as the German cutting edge arts festival Ruhr Triennale.

Jonathan Darlington began his career as freelance pianist, accompanist and repetiteur. Born in Lapworth near Birmingham , UK , he studied music at Durham University and piano at the Royal Academy of Music, London , winning several prizes especially for his Lieder accompaniment. After graduation, he moved to Paris to work as an accompanist for Radio France where he had the chance to work with some of the most outstanding musical personalities of our time; Pierre Boulez (Le soleil des eaux), Riccardo Muti (Verdi Requiem) and Olivier Messiaen (Trois petites liturgies). As a freelance recitalist and accompanist, he travelled France and the UK , working for the Nancy Opera and the French experimental touring company ARCAL, which he soon took over as music director. As member of the music staff of the Aldeburgh School for Advanced Studies, he worked with such renowned singers as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Ileana Cotrubas, Hugues Cuenod, Susanne Danko, Hans Hotter, Janet Baker and Peter Pears.

He made his conducting debut in 1984 at the Parisian Théâtre des Champs Elysées with Francesco Cavalli’s baroque opera Ormindo. An important stepping stone in his career was the Berlioz Festival Lyon, where he was assistant to Serge Baudo for Les Troyens in 1987, and later to John Nelson for Benvenuto Cellini (1989). In 1990 Myung-Whun Chung engaged Mr. Darlington as deputy to the music director at the Opéra de la Bastille, Paris , where he made his acclaimed debut in 1991 with Le nozze di Figaro, starring a dream cast including Renée Fleming and the young Cecilia Bartoli. He remained with the Paris Opéra as deputy music director until 1993, conducting successes like Die Zauberflöte and Das Lied von der Erde. His Swan Lake with the Opéra de Paris was recorded for video in 1992.

Jonathan Darlington believes that music is at its best produced live and not in the studio, the audience being an integral part of the performance. His new series of audiophile live recordings with the label Acousence, recorded in the new Mercatorhalle, the Duisburg Philharmonic’s rebuilt and acoustically perfected concert hall, best meets this artistic credo. The most recent live recordings are Mahler’s Sixth Symphony and Dvořak’s Piano Concerto.

Jonathan Darlington is also a driving force behind the DU Phil’s new media project, designed to reach out to new audiences and to bring classical music to the web 2.0. Darlington regularly writes for, and is featured in interviews and feeds on the Duisburg Philharmonic’s new blog, Dacapo, and strongly supports the Vancouver Opera’s innovative online portal, VOlive!.

Jonathan Darlington holds the distinctions of a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres as well as an Honorary LRAM and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, London (FRAM).

For further details :

IMG Artists General Management - Libby Abrahams (labrahams@imgartists.com)