Chief Conductor & Artistic Director
Artistic Patronage of Nicholas Milton courtesy of ActewAGL
Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra since 2007, Australian-born Nicholas Milton has been the musical force behind an extraordinary period of exponential growth in the CSO's history. During Milton's tenure, the orchestra has smashed all previous box office records and re-established itself in artistic terms as the leading artistic organization of the territory and one of the most fascinating and successful orchestral models in the nation.
Nicholas also enjoys a flourishing European conducting career, working with many of the continent's most prestigious orchestras and theatres. General Music Director of the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra from 2004 to 2010, the Berlin-based conductor is renowned for his charismatic stage presence and a fresh and invigorating approach to a vast repertoire.
Over the last couple of seasons, Milton's success in major European opera houses has been meteoric, with celebrated debuts at the Volksoper in Vienna, in Leipzig (Don Giovanni), Innsbruck and Mainz. In 2011 he returned to Vienna to conduct Carmen and also led the critically acclaimed new production of La Fanciulla del West in Innsbruck. In the 2012 season, Milton will conduct The Magic Flute in Munich (Gärtnerplatz), Die Fledermaus at the Komische Oper Berlin, and The Magic Flute and La Traviata in Vienna.
Concert engagements of the last season included appearances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the radio orchestras of Stuttgart, Hannover, and Saarbrücken, Staatskapelle Halle, Bruckner Orchestra Linz, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, Brabants Orkest, RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra Ljubljana, China National Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Taiwan and the orchestras of Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Mannheim, Nice, and Odense. Nicholas Milton's forthcoming engagements include return visits to the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Dortmunder Philharmoniker, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, and Sydney Symphony, debuts with orchestras including the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, MAV Symphony Orchestra Budapest, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, and concert tours of Japan and Switzerland.
An accomplished violinist, Nicholas Milton was Concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (1996–2002) and the violinist in Macquarie Trio Australia (1998–2005). He studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Michigan State University, the Mannes College of Music and the Juilliard School and holds Master's degrees in Violin, Conducting, Music Theory and Philosophy and a Doctoral degree in Music from the City University of New York. Mentored at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki by Jorma Panula, he won the 1999 Symphony Australia Conductor of the Year Competition and was a prizewinner in the Lovro von Matacic International Competition of Young Conductors. In 2001 Milton was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal for Service to Australian Society and the Advancement of Music.
Reviews:
Almost 40 years since its last performance of the work, the State Theatre of Innsbruck presents a stunning new production of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West". The enormously successful premiere received unanimous and rapturous acclaim - a gigantic success accompanied by extended minutes of cheering. Nicholas Milton, presenting an exquisite "visiting card" with this extraordinary debut for the company, inspired the Tiroler Symphony Orchestra Innsbruck to a performance of the highest level. Milton perfectly understands Puccini's richly colourful score with its wondrous echoes to the tonal languages of his contemporaries Debussy and R. Strauss - all of this revealed in the performance through an exquisite and energizing sound imagination. Most impressively - the monumental second act, with its sensual "Tristan" colours makes a powerful impression in the powerfully sculpted love duet, and the spine-tingling poker scene was yet another magnificent orchestral highlight. And although the orchestra was of a massive size and power, it never once sounded too loud or noisy - a true testament to the sensitivity and abilities of the Tiroler Symphony Orchestra and undeniable proof of what can be achieved when the right man is standing on the podium.
Dietmar Plattner, DER NEUE MERKER: Kritiken der Wiener Staatsoper, April 2011