Conductor and composer, after long collaborations as musical director in Australia (Sydney Symphony Orchestra), in the USA (St. Louis Symphony Orchestra), in Europe (Ochestre National de Lyon , BBC Symphony, Ensemble InterContemporain called by Pierre Boulez), Jerusalem Symphony, now resides in New York and collaborates with several orchestras as a guest conductor, as well as with the Julliard School, where he is invited to hold master classes.
In January 2022 he conducted the first performance in Rome of Janacek’s Kat’a Kabanova under the direction of Richard Jones. The collaboration with Metropolitan Opera continues, begun in 1996 with The Makropulos Case by Janáček, where he conducted among other works Jenufa by Janáček, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Billy Budd by Britten, the world premiere of Two Boys by Nico Muhly, in 2014 the world premiere of The death of Klinghoffer by John Adams, in 2018 Così fan tutte by Mozart, directed by Phelim McDermott.
Among prizes and awards he was Conductor of the Year in 2000, in 2010 Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in 2011 he was named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government, in 2014 he had the Grammy Award for the best performance of John Adams’ City Noir, recorded with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
He has collaborated on concert and opera seasons with important orchestras including Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berlin Philharmoniker, Bayerische
Rundfunk, Dresden Staatskapelle, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra , NCPA Beijing , Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Comunale di Bologna. He has been invited by Berlin Festival, Edinburgh Festival, BBC Proms, Musica Viva Festival, Teatro alla Scala where he conducted the world premiere of Luciano Berio’s Outis and Strawinskij’s The rake’s progress, by Théâtre du Châtelet, Bayerische Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera.
He has conducted symphonic works and compositions by Christopher Rouse, Wynton Marsalis, John Adams, Benjamin Britten, Andre Previn, Louis Andriessen. He recorded for DGG and Sony.
He has collaborated and collaborates with young artists at the Aspen, Tanglewood, Lucerne, Paris Conservatoire, Music Academy of the West, National Orchestra Institute Festivals. In 2014 he conducted the Coast to Coast tour of the National Youth Orchestra of the USA sponsored by Carnegie Hall.
Born in Santa Monica, California, David Robertson attended the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he studied corno, composition and then conducting.