Mariss Jansons will be the new Principal Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Bavarian Radio (Bayerischer Rundfunk) as from September 2003 (detailed biography

Munich, Germany (PROTEXT) - Lorin Maazel's successor for thepost of Principal Conductor of Bavarian Radio's SymphonyOrchestra is settled as from today. Dr. Thomas Gruber, the radio director of Bavarian Radioappeared extremely pleased about Mariss Jansons agreeing to takeover the direction of the Symphony Orchestra and the Choir ofBavarian Radio as from the 2003/2004 season. Jansons, saysGruber, has the rare gift of not only being able to receiveinspiration, but also to pass it on to the musicians. He can beinspired and can, thus, inspire the audience. The name MarissJansons stands for music with heart and soul. It should befascinating to see how his impetus affects the repertoire. Mariss Jansons has already conducted Bavaria Radio's SymphonyOrchestra many times, the last time being December last year at acelebrated concert during the "Kissinger Winterzauber". InSeptember he will direct Bavaria Radio's Symphony Orchestra atthe opening of the new 2001/2002 concert season. Mariss Jansons is considered one of the most respectedconductors of his generation. He became well-known worldwide notonly through his concerts and tours, but also through hisnumerous gramophone, radio and TV recordings. Along with hisposts as Principal Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestrasince 1979, and the Pittsburgh Symphony since 1997, both of whichhe has lead to international acclaim, Mariss Jansons has alsoworked as Associate Principal conductor of the St. PetersburgPhilharmonic Orchestra and as Principal Guest Conductor of theLondon Philharmonic Orchestra since 1985. Mariss Jansons is the son of the famous conductor ArvidJansons and was born in Riga in 1943. He studied violin, pianoand conducting at the St Petersburg Conservatory, which hecompleted with distinction,and continued his studies in 1969 inVienna under Professor Hans Swarowsky and in Salzburg underHerbert von Karajan. In 1971 Mariss Jansons won the Herbert vonKarajan competition in Berlin. Mariss Jansons' collaboration with the St. PetersburgPhilharmonic Orchestra, formerly the Leningrad PhilharmonicOrchestra, started in 1973, when he was appointed AssociateConductor. In 1985 he rose to the rank of Associate PrincipalConductor of the orchestra. He still holds this post today.Since his appointment to the St Petersburg Philharmonic OrchestraMariss Jansons has successfully directed the orchestra on many oftheir very successful, worldwide tours. The Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra has gained a reputation as oneof the world's best orchestras under his leadership. MarissJansons and the "Oslo troupe" have been guests on joint tours atthe most important centres in the music world over the last fewyears. They played at the Salzburg Festival, the festivals inLucerne and Edinburgh, the BBC Proms, the Barbican Centre and theRoyal Festival Hall in London as well as the Vienna MusicAssociation, the Royal Concertgebouw, the Lincoln Centre and theCarnegie Hall in New York and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Over theyears they have received many excellent reviews for theirnumerous recordings for EMI and Chandos. Along with his numerous fixed commitments, Mariss Jansons hasagain and again conducted many of the world's best orchestras,such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland andPhiladelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin andVienna Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw, Bavaria Radio'sSymphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the LondonSymphony,and the London Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestrawith immense success. He is also a guest at the SalzburgFestival every year with different orchestras. The repertoire of his gramophone recordings for EMI andChandos range from works by Berlioz, Dvorak, Bartok, Mahler,Prokofiev and Rachmaninov through to Ravel, Respighi,Schostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Stravinsky, Wagner andWeill. Many of the recordings have been awarded internationalprizes. In 1989 Mariss Jansons received the Edison Award for therecording of Schostakovich's Symphony No. 7 with the LeningradPhilharmonic Orchestra. He received the much sought after DutchLuister Award for the recording of the Symphonie Fantastique byBerlioz with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. For Dvorak'sSymphony Nr. 5 with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra he won the"Penguin Award" and for the Symphonies No. 2 und 3 by Honeggerthe Grand Prix de Disque. The future director of Bavarian Radio's Symphony Orchestra hasalready been honoured with awards on numerous occasions. He waschosen as "Artist of the Year 1996" by EMI Classics and receivedthe Norwegian Anders Jahre Culture Prize. Furthermore, a specialhonour was bestowed on him in Norway, namely in 1995 he wasawarded the "Commander with Star", the highest Order awarded tonon-noble, non-Norwegian citizens, along with the Royal NorwegianOrder of Merit, by King Harald V. Photos of Mariss Jansons: Photos are available in the BRpicture archive, Tel. 089/5900-3040, Fax 089/5900-3284 or BR-APIS-ONLINE 10040 as well as LEONARDO-ISDN: Tel. 089/5900-4597(please address your enquiry to LEONARDO on Tel. No. 089/5900-2738, Gerhard Kirmair). Contact: Bayerischer Rundfunk PressOffice Tel. 089 / 5900 2176

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