Stefan Sanderling (born 2 August 1964 in East Berlin, East Germany) [1] is an orchestral conductor. He is the son of the conductor Kurt Sanderling and the double-bass player Barbara Sanderling. [2] His half-brother is the conductor Thomas Sanderling. His brother Michael Sanderling is a cellist and conductor.
In his youth, Sanderling played the piano and clarinet. His early university experience was in Halle, Germany. At the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, Sanderling studied with the conductors Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Temirkanov, Edo de Waart and John Nelson. He later attended the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and studied with Daniel Lewis. He also studied with Kurt Masur at the Leipzig conservatory.
Sanderling's first professional position was in Potsdam, Germany. In addition, he has been the Music Director of the Staatstheater and the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz (Philharmonic Orchestra). In 1996, he became chief conductor of the Orchestre de Bretagne and served in this capacity until the end of the 2003-2004 season.
In the US, Sanderling was appointed the Music Director of the Florida Orchestra in May 2002, [3] and he officially assumed this position in the 2003-2004 season. In June 2006, Sanderling extended his contract with the Florida Orchestra through the 2010-2011 season. [4] His contract had been further extended through the 2013-2014 season, at which point he was scheduled to conclude his Florida Orchestra tenure. [5] There were reports of conflict between Sanderling and the orchestra management, regarding finances and programming, as factors in his departure. [6] [7] However, in June 2012, the orchestra announced the early conclusion of Sanderling's Florida Orchestra tenure after the 2011-2012 season. [8] His final appearance with the orchestra was in May 2014. [9]
In the US, Sanderling became principal guest conductor of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra in 2002, with an initial two-year contract. [10] The orchestra subsequently elevated his title to principal conductor, and he held this post through the 2016-2017 season. [11] Sanderling conducted the Toledo Symphony Orchestra in its Carnegie Hall debut in May 2011, as part of the 'Spring for Music' festival. [12] Sanderling became music director of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra at the start of the 2008 summer season, a post he held until 2011.
Sanderling is married to the cellist Isabelle Besançon, who formerly played in the Orchestre de Bretagne, where they met. They were married in November 2002. On 31 December 2002, there was an incident at the Raymond James Stadium where the couple was supposed to meet the Tampa businessman David Harbert at an American football game, as guests. A security guard stopped Besançon from entering the stadium because of her oversized purse, a consequence of heightened security concerns after the 11 September 2001 attacks. The incident escalated because a security guard was reported to have stated that he "couldn't risk letting the couple inside because they were foreigners". The matter resolved in a letter of apology from Barbara Casey, director of communications for the Tampa Sports Authority, to Sanderling. [13]
In September 2015, Sanderling was named the next chief conductor of the Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra, effective with the 2016-2017 season. [14]
The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. Colloquially referred to as the LA Phil, the orchestra has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September. Gustavo Dudamel is the current music director, Esa-Pekka Salonen is conductor laureate, Zubin Mehta is conductor emeritus, and Susanna Mälkki is principal guest conductor. John Adams is the orchestra's current composer-in-residence.
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (TSYO). The TSO's most recent music director was Peter Oundjian, from 2004 to 2018. Sir Andrew Davis, conductor laureate of the TSO, has most recently served as the orchestra's interim artistic director. Gustavo Gimeno is music director of the TSO, since the 2020–2021 season.
Kurt Sanderling, CBE was a German conductor.
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The Florida Orchestra is an American orchestra based in the tri-city area of Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg, Florida. It was founded as the Florida Gulf Coast Symphony upon the 1968 merger of the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the Tampa Philharmonic. The present name was adopted in 1984.
Markus Stenz is a German conductor. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik Köln with Volker Wangenhein and at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa.
The Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts was created in 2019 when the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the Toledo Ballet merged. Based in Toledo, Ohio, it operated with a $13.2 million budget in its fiscal year 2020 and maintains the two brand names Toledo Symphony (sic) and Toledo Ballet, each with its own website. The orchestra part of TAPA performs at various venues, including the Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle Theater, the Valentine Theatre, the Toledo Club, the Stranahan Theater and some twenty churches and performing arts centers across the region.
John Gunnar Rafael Storgårds is a Finnish conductor and violinist.
Oleg Caetani is an Italian conductor.
Louis Langrée is a French conductor. He is the son of organist and theorist Alain Langrée.
Thomas Sanderling is a German conductor born in the Soviet Union.
Michael Francis is a British conductor.
This article lists major events and other topics related to classical music in 2016.
Cristian Măcelaru is a Romanian conductor. He is currently chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, music director of the Orchestre National de France, and the designated music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.