Guest ArtistsDavid Danzmayr, conductor

Described by The Herald as “extremely good, concise, clear, incisive and expressive,” David Danzmayr is widely regarded as one of the most talented and exciting European conductors of his generation.

Mr. Danzmayr is Chief Conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the first to hold this title in seven years. As leader of this orchestra, he is following in the footsteps of famous conductors such as Lovro von Matacic, Kazushi Ono and Dmitri Kitajenko. Performing regularly to sold-out audiences in Zagreb’s Lisinski Hall and having been awarded the Zagreb City Award, Mr. Danzmayr and his orchestra also already toured to the Salzburger Festspielhaus, where they received standing ovations performing the prestigious New Year’s concert and to the Wiener Musikverein. In addition, Mr. Danzmayr is music director of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, an orchestra comprised of musicians from all over the USA.

Previously, Mr. Danzmayr served as music director of the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra in Chicago, where he was lauded regularly by both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Classical Review for the performances. He was also the only conductor in the Chicago area who programmed a piece of American music on every concert.

Mr. Danzmayr has won prizes at some of the world’s most prestigious conducting competitions including a second prize at the International Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition and prizes at the International Malko Conducting Competition. For his extraordinary success, he has been awarded the Bernhard Paumgartner Medal by the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum.

Propelled by these early successes into a far reaching international career, Mr. Danzmayr quickly became a sought-after guest conductor for orchestras around the globe, including the symphonies of Oregon, Indianapolis, Detroit, North Carolina, San Diego, Colorado, Milwaukee and New Jersey, the Pacific Symphony, Chicago Civic Orchestra; and in Europe, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Mozarteum Orchester, Essener Philharmoniker, Hamburger Symphoniker, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Salzburg Chamber Philharmonic, Bruckner Orchester Linz and the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Vienna and Stuttgart, to name a few.

In addition to numerous re-invitations, future engagements include concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Grant Park Festival.

Mr. Danmazyr frequently appears in the world’s major concert halls, such as the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Grosses Festspielhaus Salzburg, Usher Hall Edinburgh and the Symphony Hall in Chicago.

He has served as assistant conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, which he conducted in more than 70 concerts so far, performing in all the major Scottish concert halls and in the prestigious, Orkney-based, St Magnus Festival.

David Danzmayr received his musical training at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg where, after initially studying piano, he went on to study conducting in the class of Dennis Russell Davies. He finished his studies with the highest honors. Mr. Danzmayr was strongly influenced by Pierre Boulez and Claudio Abbado in his time as conducting stipendiate of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and by Leif Segerstam during his additional studies in the conducting class at the Sibelius Academy. Subsequently, he gained significant experience as assistant to Neeme Järvi, Stephane Deneve, Carlos Kalmar, Sir Andrew Davis and Pierre Boulez, who entrusted Mr. Danzmayr with the preparatory rehearsals for his own music.