Alexander Shelley

In 2015 Alexander Shelley succeeded Pinchas Zukerman as Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, having being appointed Music Director-Designate two years’ previously. 2015 also saw Shelley enter his seventh year as Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra and named Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, in which capacity he led the orchestra on a tour of Korea in September.

Shelley is in demand from orchestras around the world including the City of Birmingham Symphony, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, DSO Berlin, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Philharmonia, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Simon Bolivar, Stockholm Philharmonic and the Houston, Seattle and Vancouver symphonies. Operatic engagements have included The Merry Widow and Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet (Royal Danish Opera), La Bohème (Opera Lyra/National Arts Centre), Iolanta (Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen), Cosi fan tutte (Montpellier) and The Marriage of Figaro (Opera North). Forthcoming debuts include Camerata Salzburg, Czech Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Oslo Philharmonic and RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra.

The son of professional musicians, inspiring future generations of musicians and audiences has always been central to Alexander’s work. Shelley enjoys a close relationship with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, where he is artistic director of their Zukunftslabor project—an ECHO and Deutsche Gründerpreis winning series which aims to build a lasting relationship between the orchestra and a new generation of concert-goers.