Hailed as one of today’s most exciting young conductors,
Karel Mark Chichon was described by the New York Times as “A conductor of genius” and continues to thrill international audiences with his temperament, passion and musicianship. He is Chief Conductor of the
Graz Symphony Orchestra since 2006, Conductor Emeritus of the
Latvian National Symphony Orchestra since 2007 and Artistic Director of the
Gibraltar Philharmonic Society since 1998.
The 2008-9 season will see his debut at the Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Arena di Verona (with 16 performances of Carmen & Verdi: Requiem), Philharmonia Orchestra, SWR Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale of Bologna, Orchestra of Teatro Carlo Felice, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra, Basel Chamber Orchestra in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Munich, Dresden, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Moscow, Barcelona, Valencia. He also returns to the Vienna Symphony, Vienna Radio Symphony, Haydn Orchestra Bolzano, Latvian National Symphony, Brno Philharmonic and Seoul Philharmonic.
Born in London in 1971, Chichon hails from Gibraltar. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music (London) and was assistant conductor to Giuseppe Sinopoli and Valery Gergiev.
He has worked with artists such as José Carreras, Montserrat Caballé, Grace Bumbry, Edita Gruberova, José Cura, Juan Diego Flórez, Ramón Vargas and Carlos Álvarez.
Since 2003 he has been a regular guest conductor with the English Chamber Orchestra, with whom he tours frequently.
In 2004 he was invited by the Vienna Philharmonic to conduct concerts at their International Orchestra Institute in Salzburg and made highly successful return visits in 2005 and 2006.
Chichon is a frequent guest conductor with leading orchestras throughout the world, which include the Vienna Symphony, Vienna Radio Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, Haydn Orchestra Bolzano, Tiroler/Innsbruck Symphony, Norddeutsche Philharmonie, Halle Philharmonic, Lucerne Symphony, Prague Symphony, Budapest Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, China National Symphony.
