Beginning on 5 March, Thierry begins as Music Director of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, conducting Beethoven Missa Solemnis in Ré Maior, Op.123 at the Sala São Paulo.

Thierry said the following about the engagement:

“Beethoven was constantly striving towards new horizons, and I so I cannot imagine a more fitting start to my new relationship in Sao Paulo, than to join forces with the OSESP choir and orchestra for his revelatory Missa Solemnis”.

This follows “an electrifying Beethoven 7 from a faultless Brussels Philharmonic and an utterly committed Thierry Fischer” two weeks ago at Brussels Flagey; “ brisk tempi, springy rhythms, a sense of suspense, irrepressible energy, properly surprising transitions…very taut, invigorating, electrifying…and yet with finelly chiselled articulation” – Resmusica, February 2020.

The first concert on 5 March, will be broadcast live on the São Paulo Symphony’s Facebook, Youtube and also on Arte 1.

Thierry was recently interviewed by OSESP Artistic Director Arthur Nestrovski regarding his youth as Principal flute player for the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the influence of conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Read the full interview here.

Following on from his acclaimed Saint-Saens cycle, Thierry and the Utah Symphony Orchestra release a new recording of Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique on Hyperion Records.

Recorded in Abravanel Hall, Salt Lake City, the new release also features other works by Berlioz: Rêverie et caprice Op. 8, La mort d’Ophélie Op. 18 No. 2 and Sara la baigneuse Op. 11.

Click here to purchase the album from Hyperion Records or click here to purchase from Amazon.

Thierry will be jumping in to conduct the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for 2 concerts on 15 & 16 January.

The programme, titled “Unrequited Love”, begins with Tcherepnin Prelude to the Distant Princess, followed by Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op.43, where Thierry and orchestra will be joined by pianist Andrei Korobeinikov.

The concert will close with Thierry conducting through Berlioz Symphonie fantastique, Op.14. 

Click here to find out more.

Continuing their critically acclaimed Saint-Saëns cycle, Thierry conducts the Utah Symphony through a new recording of Saint-Saëns Symphony No 1 & Carnival of the Animals, released on Hyperion this month. Recorded at Abravanel Hall, the album features Symphony No 1 in E flat major Op 2, Le carnaval des animaux and finally the Symphony in A major. Click here to purchase the album from Hyperion Records or click here to purchase from Amazon.

Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the cycle was released earlier this year and was warmly received by the press, with Limelight Magazine praising Thierry and the Utah Symphony for their blend of “American muscle and Gallic lyricism”.

Click here to purchase Volume 1, and here to purchase Volume 2.

Thierry guest-conducts the Nashville Symphony Orchestra this week, with three consecutive performances at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center from 7 November.

Fischer and the orchestra are joined by world-renowned British pianist Stephen Hough for a performance of Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No.1 in G minor, followed by Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique.

The programme opens with composer Andrew Norman’s Unstuck, a piece inspired by Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five.

Read here for an interview with Thierry about Symphonie Fantastique and the career of conducting.

In June 2019, Thierry was announced as the new Musical Director of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra from 2020. The orchestra now announces its 2020 season of performances.

In celebration of Beethoven’s 250 years, the orchestra presents a season comprised of symphonies, piano concertos, piano sonatas, choral works and cello pieces by the legendary composer. Thierry will conduct symphonies 1 through 8, with the 9th presented later in December as part of the orchestra’s farewell to conductor Marin Alsop.

In addition to works by Beethoven, the season features a bold selection of repertoire. Thierry will conduct twentieth century works featuring Schoenberg, Webern, Berg and Boulez as well as a Latin America Premiere of a new work for Cello by Tristan Murail.

Click here to find out more.

Thierry launches the O. C. Tanner Company Masterworks Series with the Utah Symphony on 12 September at the Browning Center for the Performing Arts in Utah. With repertoire ranging from John Williams Star Wars to Holst The Planets, Thierry explains his inspiration: “Since coming to Utah more than 10 years ago, I have often been awestruck by the beauties and majesties of its natural landscapes.”

Subsequent concerts in the series follow at Abravanel Hall, Salt Lake City on 13, 14, 27 & 28 September.

Thierry makes his debut conducting the Cleveland Orchestra on 19 July at Severence Hall, interrupting his vacation to replace Heras-Casado at short notice in a programme culminating in Debussy’s La Mer. They perform again together at the orchestra’s Blossom Music Festival in Cuyahoga Falls on 21 July. Thierry is a highly respected interpreter of French repertoire from the dawn of the 20th century; his Saint-Saëns symphony cycle on Hyperion with the Utah Symphony continues to attract glowing reviews:

” easily the finest performance the work has yet received on disc. Not only does the Utah Symphony play with the same conviction and finesse it brought to its superb recent recording of the Organ Symphony and the little known incidental for the forgotten play La foi, but there’s also a sparkle and subtlety in its playing that will inspire slack-jawed admiration”
Fanfare, July 2019

“An excellent reappraisal of symphonic Saint-Saëns … I hope there’ll be more”
BBC Record Review, June 2019

Thierry appeard on BBC Radio 3′s popular afternoon programme, In Tune, on 21 June to speak about his recent appointment as Music Director of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra from 2020. Thierry described how for him, his relationship with the orchestra was love at first sight:

“I can’t wait to start. As a conductor we spend a lot of weeks going from one orchestra to another, and from time to time, as soon as you conduct two bars you have this feeling that you can’t explain – that something could happen here, that it matches, that things work. It enhances your creativity, and this was one of those weeks!”

He also revealed what will feature at his concert with the orchestra on 9 July celebrating the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Sala Sao Paulo, which he called “one of the most beautiful concert halls in the world”. The concert opens with Beethoven Symphony No.5, followed by pieces chosen by public vote from composers including Villa-Lobos, Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Mahler.

Thierry’s interview was preceded by Saint-Saëns’ Danse macabre from the latest recording in his cycle of the composer’s works for Hyperion with the Utah Symphony. The album also featured Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No.2 and Symphony in F and was described as “polished and graciously articulate” by Gramophone. Click here to purchase the recording.

Click here to listen back to In Tune on the BBC website.

The São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, long recognised as South America’s leading symphony orchestra, today announced the appointment of Thierry as their next Music Director. Thierry was the first choice for the search committee led by musicians, management, board members and international advisers who were all impressed by his inspirational music making in concert and his rigorous attention to style and clarity of sound in rehearsal.

Thierry’s first concert as Music Director Designate will be on 9 July 2019 on the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Orchestra’s home, the Sala São Paulo. In his first concerts as Music Director he will conduct Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, part of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra’s wide-ranging Beethoven 250 cycle. Thierry will also conduct Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 1-8, with Marin Alsop conducting the Ninth in her last concerts as Music Director in December 2019.

Thierry remains Music Director of the Utah Symphony until August 2022 when he will become Music Director Emeritus. He is Principal Guest of the Seoul Philharmonic until the end of 2020, and continues as Honorary Conductor of the Nagoya Philharmonic in Japan.

Read the full press release here.