Jonathan Darlington is music director of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vancouver Opera. His demand for the highest level of professionalism and precision, infused with genuine enthusiasm, has ever increased the quality and popularity of both orchestras.

A graduate of Durham University and the Royal Academy of Music, he began his career as freelance pianist, accompanist and repetiteur in France. His work was influenced early on by such outstanding musical personalities of our time as Pierre Boulez, Riccardo Muti and Olivier Messiaen. He made his conducting debut in 1984 at the Parisian Théâtre des Champs Elysées with Francesco Cavalli’s baroque opera Ormindo, and in 1991, as deputy to the Music Director Myung-Whun Chung at the Paris Opéra with Le nozze di Figaro.

Sensitivity for depth and balance and an infectious dynamism are the hallmarks of Jonathan Darlington’s work. His vast symphonic and operatic repertoire ranges from the baroque to the contemporary, with an emphasis on lesser known (contemporary) works outside the European mainstream. Numerous world and national premieres of works such as Trojahn’s La Grande Magia or Kagel’s Broken Chords attest to his commitment to contemporary music.

Renowned for his broad repertoire, he gives regular guest appearances with major orchestras and opera houses the world over.

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).