User:Cjburtonpiano

Jonas Alber (born 1969, Offenburg, Germany) is a Berlin-based German conductor.

Education and Early Career Alber studied violin and conducting in Freiburg and qualified as a conductor at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. He was awarded a scholarship by the Herbert von Karajan Foundation in 1995. Three years later, he was appointed General Music Director of the Staatstheater Braunschweig, thus becoming Germany’s youngest conductor in a position of this kind. He remained at this post until summer 2007.

Concert Career Alber has led many renowned orchestras. In Germany, these include the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, the MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, the Dresdner Philharmoniker, Hamburger Symphoniker, and Bochumer Symphoniker. He has also conducted the Niederösterreichisches Tonkünstlerorchester Wien, the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Flemish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Belgique, the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gran Canaria Philharmonic, and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

In 2006 Maestro Alber made his debut with The Hague Residentie Orkest at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, performing Richard Strauss’ Alpine Symphony. This was followed by an immediate reengagement the following summer. 2006 also saw his debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at Birmingham Symphony Hall and an appearance at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa. Recent engagements (2008-2009) have included guest appearances with the Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, the Kristiansand Symfoniorkester, the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Brussels Philharmonic, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra London. He will make his Japan debut with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra in May 2009.

Operatic Career Alber’s operatic repertoire ranges from the traditional (Mozart, Puccini, and Richard Strauss) to new productions and premieres. He has given highly celebrated performances of such staples as Der Ring des Nibelungen as well as delivered first productions of several operas, including Britten’s Peter Grimes, Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg, Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, Ullmann’s Kaiser von Atlantis, Max von Schilling’s Mona Lisa, d'Albert's Tiefland, and Janácek’s The Makropulos Case. His German premieres of Philippe Boesmans’ operas Reigen, Wintermärchen, and Julie, and of Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, with newly composed recitative texts by Manfred Trojahn (during the 2006 Mozart Year), were internationally commended. He also won international acclaim for his world premiere production of Siegfried Matthus' opera Cosima at the Braunschweig State Theatre.

Additional operatic credits include a production of Schreker’s Der Schatzgräber at the Frankfurt Opera and a revival performance of Peter Grimes. Maestro Alber began a collaboration with the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg with Iphigenie in Aulis, which was followed by productions of Norma, Nabucco and Der Freischütz. He made his debut at the Berlin Opera with Carmina Burana and at the Vienna Volksoper with Franz Schmidt's Notre Dame. In March 2007 Maestro Alber conducted the world premiere of Benoît Mernier’s Frühlings Erwachen at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels and in summer 2007 a highly acclaimed concert version of Fidelio with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. He conducted the world premiere of Mats Larsson Gothe's opera Poet & Prophetess at Norrlands Operan in March 2008, which was followed by a second production of that work at Cape Town Opera in October 2008.

Selected Discography

Benoît Mernier - Frühlings Erwachen  Opera in 3 acts (2007) Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of  the Opéra de la Monnaie, Brussels (Live DVD, Cypres Records, 2007) Winner: diapason d’or, 2008

Richard Strauss  - A Heroe's Life op.40  Death and Transfiguration op.24 Braunschweig State Orchestra (Live CD, Coviello Classics, 2007) Richard Strauss  - An Alpine Symphony op.64  Braunschweig State Orchestra (Live CD, Coviello Classics, 2006)

Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 2 C minor, Resurrection Cecilia Lindwall, Soprano Kathrin Hildebrandt, Alto Choirs of the Braunschweig State Theatre Braunschweig State Orchestra (Live CD, 2005)

Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 3 D minor Brigitte Pinter, Alto Choirs of the Braunschweig State Theatre Braunschweig State Orchestra (Live CD, Coviello Classics, 2004)

César Franck  - Symphony D minor Le chasseur maudit Braunschweig State Orchestra (Live CD, Coviello Classics, 2003)

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Symphony No. 3 A minor, Scottish Overture The Hebrides Richard Strauss Macbeth  Braunschweig State Orchestra (Live CD, Classiconcert, 2001)

Robert Schumann - Symphony No. 1, B-flat major, Spring Symphony No. 4 D minor Overture to Manfred Braunschweig State Orchestra (Live CD, Classiconcert, 2000)

Robert Schumann Symphony No. 2 C major Symphony No. 3 E-flat major, Rhenish Braunschweig State Orchestra (Live CD, Classiconcert, 1999-2000)

Jean Sibelius Symphony No. 2 D major Finlandia Braunschweig State Orchestra (Live CD, Classiconcert, 1998)