The 679th Subscription Concert 2026.September.12（Sat）17:00～
/ September.13（Sun）13:00～ Sapporo Concert Hall; Kitara

© Y.Fujii

Matthias BAMERT（conductor）

The Swiss conductor, Matthias Bamert, studied music in his native Switzerland, as well as in Darmstadt and Paris, falling in with the likes of Pierre Boulez and Stockhausen; these associations can be detected in his own compositions from the 1970s. He spent from 1965 to 1969 as principal oboist with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, but then switched to conducting.
Matthias Bamert’s conducting career began in North America as an apprentice to George Szell and later as Assistant Conductor to Leopold Stokowski at the American Symphony, and Resident Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra under Lorin Maazel. This legacy lives on in his hugely popular recordings for Chandos with the BBC Philharmonic of Stokowski’s arrangements of Bach, Wagner and Mussorgsky. He was music director of the Swiss Radio Orchestra from 1977 to 1983, then began making a wider reputation across Europe.
He was Principal Guest Conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2005, Deputy Guest Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 2003 to 2008 and Principal Conductor of the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2007. From 2005 to 2008 he was Principal Conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra; from 2017 to 2022 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea; and from 2018 to March 2024 he was Chief Conductor of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra.
Principal Guest Conductor of the Scottish National Orchestra and Director of the Glasgow contemporary music festival Musica Nova from 1985 to 1990, Matthias Bamert became known for his innovative programming and has conducted the world premieres of works by many composers such as Takemitsu, Casken, Macmillan and Rihm. His gift for imaginative programming came to the fore during his tenure as Director of the Lucerne Festival from 1992 to 1998, when he was also responsible for the opening of the KKL Luzern, started a Easter Festival and a piano festival.
Music Director of the London Mozart Players from 1993 to 2000, Matthias Bamert has masterminded a hugely successful series of recordings of works by “Contemporaries of Mozart” which has already exceeded 75 symphonies.
He has made numerous guest appearances with orchestras in Europe, the USA and Asia, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Orchestre symphonique de Montreal, Wiener Symphoniker, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, Berliner Symphoniker, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Orchestre de Paris, Helsinki Philharmonic, Residentie Orkest Den Haag, Orquesta Nacional de Espana, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra and KBS Symphony Orchestra, amongst others.
Although Matthias Bamert has a solid reputation as a conductor of the standard repertory, he is best known for his work on behalf of new music, obscure 18th century music, and neglected music from all eras. He is known to be a quick study, able to master new scores in very little time, and bring off highly effective premieres in concert and on CD. A prolific recording artist, Matthias Bamert has made over 80 CDs, many of which have won international prizes. His output includes 24 CDs of music by Mozart’s contemporaries with the London Mozart Players, the complete symphonies of Parry and five CDs of works by Frank Martin with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the symphonies of Roberto Gerhard with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Dutch repertoire with the Residentie Orkest and the Stokowski transcriptions as well as works by Korngold and Dohnanyi with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.