Sylvain Cambreling

Sylvain Cambreling is a distinguished conductor celebrated for his mastery of both grand opera and complex contemporary repertoire. Since winning second place in the Besançon Competition in 1974, he has held transformative leadership roles at major institutions, including La Monnaie in Brussels, the SWR Sinfonieorchester, and Staatsoper Stuttgart, where his tenure earned the company "Opera House of the Year" honors. A frequent guest at the Salzburg Festival and a long-time collaborator with Pierre Boulez, he is perhaps best known for his definitive recordings of Olivier Messiaen's complete orchestral works. Cambreling remains a leading global figure in 20th and 21st century music, recognized with the German Federal Cross of Merit for his lifelong contribution to the arts. Cambreling was born into a musical family in Amiens, France, in 1948. He trained as a trombonist at the Paris Conservatoire and joined the Orchestre Symphonique de Lyon in that capacity in 1971, before turning to conducting after taking second prize at the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors in 1974. The following year, he made his conducting debut with the Lyon orchestra, and in 1976, Pierre Boulez appointed him permanent guest conductor of the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris, establishing from the outset a deep engagement with contemporary music that has remained central to his work. In 1981, he was appointed General Music Director of the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium, where he remained for a decade and, alongside artistic director Gérard Mortier, helped establish the house as one of Europe's leading opera stages. From 1993 to 1997, Cambreling served as General Music Director of the Frankfurt Opera, where he conducted a wide range of productions and strengthened his international standing in opera. From 1999 to 2011, Cambreling was chief conductor of the SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg, where his complete recording of Messiaen's orchestral works earned the Echo Klassik Conductor of the Year award and the German Record Critics' Annual Prize in 2009, and the MIDEM Contemporary Music Award in 2010. He simultaneously served as chief conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo from 2010 to 2019, and as General Music Director of the Staatsoper Stuttgart from 2012 to 2018, where the house was named Opera House of the Year in 2016. Since 2018, he has been chief conductor of the Symphoniker Hamburg, a contract extended through 2028. Cambreling was decorated as a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 2007, received the German Federal Cross of Merit in 2012, the Italian Premio Abbiati in 2008, and the ICMA Special Achievement Award in 2024. ~ Prince Iwundu, Rovi