Pehlivanian Becomes Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic

Ljubljana, 10 January

American conductor of international renown George Pehlivanian has become the first ever chief conductor of the Slovenian Philharmonic. Pehlivanian was appointed the resident conductor effective on 1 January, and will be a kind of artistic director of this music house until the end of September 2008.

Pehlivanian will conduct between six to eight concerts a season. His duties will moreover include performing at other concerts, attending shootings and giving guest performances.
The Philharmonic would like to include guest performances of foreign orchestras into its regular programme, talks are underway with orchestras from Zagreb, Maribor and Belgrade.
A tour of Switzerland is scheduled for January 2006. Furthermore, talks are underway about a two-week tour of Japan in April 2006. The orchestra will also play at the Ravenna international festival in July.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, George Pehlivanian started piano and violin lessons at the age of three and six, respectively. In 1975, he emigrated with his family to Los Angeles, where he studied conducting with Pierre Boulez, Lorin Maazel and Ferdinand Leitner.
Pehlivanian gained international acclaim in 1991 when he became the first American to win the Grand Prize at the prestigious Besançon Conducting Competition at the age of 27. Since then, he has consolidated his reputation as one of the most compelling conductors of his generation.
He is also principal guest conductor of the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, as well as a regular guest conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has conducted many of the world's leading orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala Milano, Rotterdam Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Bamberger Symphoniker and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.

Pehlivanian Becomes Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic

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