| Biography | Philippe Jordan (born 18 October 1974, Zürich) is a Swiss conductor, music director of the Opéra national de Paris, and the son of conductor Armin Jordan. He began to study piano at age 6. At age 8, he joined the Zürich Sängerknaben. His violin studies began at age 11.
At 16, he entered the Zürich Conservatory where he obtained his diploma in piano instruction, with honors. He studied theory and composition with the Swiss composer Hans Ulrich Lehmann and continued his piano studies with Karl Engel. At the same time, he worked as an assistant to Jeffrey Tate on Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Châtelet in Paris.
In the 1994/95 season, Jordan was appointed First Kapellmeister of the Ulm Stadttheater. The following year, he made his debut at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. He has since conducted at the Grand Théâtre in Geneva, the Vienna Staatsoper, the Châtelet in Paris, the Semperoper in Dresden and the Aix-en-Provence International Festival.
From September 1998 to June 2001, Jordan was Kapellmeister and assistant to Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera (Staatsoper Unter den Linden). He now holds the title of Principal Guest Conductor at the Staatsoper unter den Linden. Jordan held the position of Chief Conductor of the Graz Opera and Graz Philharmonic Orchestra from September 2001 to June 2004.
In the 2001/02 season, Philippe Jordan made his US operatic debut conducting Samson et Dalila at the Houston Grand Opera and his UK operatic debut conducting Carmen at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. In the 2002/03 season, he made his debuts at the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He made his first conducting appearance at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich in April 2004, and at the Bastille Opera in Paris in October 2004. His first appearances at the Salzburg Festival took place in the summer of 2004. Jordan conducted pieces by Dvorak, Smetana and Beethoven in his December 2007 debut with the New York Philharmonic.
In October 2007, Jordan was named the Music Director of the Opéra National de Paris, starting with the 2009-2010 season. In October 2011, Jordan's contract with the Opéra National de Paris was extended through July 2018. Also in October 2011, Jordan was named the next chief conductor of the Wiener Symphoniker (Vienna Symphony Orchestra), effective with the 2014-2015 season, with an initial contract of 5 years.
In addition to conducting, Jordan also performs as a pianist in recital and chamber music, such as at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg. |