Conductor
O artyście
British conductor Karel Mark Chichon continues to thrill international audiences with his temperament, passion and musicianship. In recognition to his services to music, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England made Chichon an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in June 2012. In 2016 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in recognition of his achievements within the profession.
Born in London in 1971, Chichon hails from Gibraltar. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music (London). In May 2017 he was appointed Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, a position in which he has been renewed three times until the 2026–2027 season. His previous positions include Chief Conductor & Artistic Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (2009–2012) and Chief Conductor of the Graz Symphony Orchestra (2006–2009).
From 2011 to 2017 he was Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, enjoying critically acclaimed seasons and receiving praise for his profound interpretation of a wide repertoire and transformative music-making with the DRP. A further testament to his outstanding partnership with the DRP has been the unanimous critical success of the first three albums of the complete orchestral works of Dvořák for the label Hänssler Classic. Critics said ‘Karel Mark Chichon scores significantly over several esteemed rivals’ and praised these first three releases as ‘the finest versions available’.
In 2016 he made a highly acclaimed debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York with Madama Butterfly, which included one broadcast live on HD in 2,000 cinemas in 66 countries throughout the world. He has recently conducted La traviata at the Metropolitan Opera and is part of the exclusive group of directors who return regularly to the venerated coliseum, where he has directed Madama Butterfly, La traviata, Rigoletto and soon La Bohème. He is also a regular Deutsche Grammophon recording artist, for which he has recorded five albums and a DVD.