BIOGRAPHY
"Antunes showed he knows that rarest of arts: how to make the contributions in a perspective that always makes musical
sense… He secured performances that were high on illumination, getting inside the music, as it were…"
Michael Dervan, Irish Times
Energy, attention to detail, stylistically informed interpretation and charisma are top among the wide range of attributes that best convey the essence of Celso Antunes as a unique conductor. Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir "Groot Omroepkoor" and Professor of Choral Conducting at the distinguished Haute École de Musique de Génève (both since 2008), he is equally in demand as an orchestral and as a choral conductor.
Born 1959 in São Paulo/Brazil, Celso Antunes studied conducting at the Musikhochschule Köln in Germany. From 1994 until 1998 he was Chief Conductor of the Neues Rheinisches Kammerorchester in Cologne and of the Belgian ensemble for contemporary music Champ d'Action (1994 - 1997), with whom he directed numerous world premieres. As Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the National Chamber Choir of Ireland, his influence on its development from 2002 onward was exceptional. In 2007 the Irish Times regretted his departure with the words: …this period will have to be seen in the future as a golden age for professional choral singing in Ireland.
Flexibility is the key to Celso Antunes' conducting expertise across a wide repertoire, which covers choral music from the Renaissance through orchestral works from the 18th and 19th century and contemporary music, of which he is a devoted advocate. This advocacy has led to engagements to direct numerous renowned contemporary music ensembles such as the Nieuw Ensemble, the Ensemble Modern and the Tippett Ensemble (of which he remains Music Director). He has conducted a huge number of world premieres, including works by, amongst many others, Michael Tippett, Wolfgang Rihm, Jonathan Harvey, Hans Zender, Brice Pauset and Lera Auerbach.
For many years Celso Antunes has been an active figure on the European concert scene. Festival Engagements have included: the Donaueschinger Musiktage, the Flanders Festival, the Musikbiennale München, the Kurt-Weill-Fest in Dessau and November Music in s'Hertogenbosch. Antunes regularly works with some of Europe's leading choirs, including: the SWR Stuttgart Vocal Ensemble, the BBC Singers in London and the Vlaamse Radio Koor in Brussels. Among the conductors with whom he has collaborated are prominent artists such as Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Janssons, Charles Dutoit, Peter Eötvös and Sylvain Cambreling.
Celso Antunes is regularly invited as a guest conductor by leading orchestras, such as the Manchester Camerata, the Gelders Orkest, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Ulster Orchestra and the NDR Radio Philharmonic Hanover. In his home country Brazil, Celso Antunes also features regularly as a guest conductor with the Camerata Fukuda and the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP).
CD recording is becoming an increasingly important part of Celso Antunes' schedule and spring 2010 will see the release of two new disks bearing his name as conductor: 'Sundogs' by James MacMillan, with the Netherlands Radio Choir on the BIS label and songs by Joaquin Turina with mezzo soprano Lucia Duchónova and the NDR Radio Philharmonic Hanover for Hänssler Classic.
In June 2010, Celso Antunes returns to the Cité de la Musique, Paris, with the Netherlands Radio Choir and the Orchestre de Radio France, where he will premiere "Les Sept Paroles" by Tristan Murail. In July, at the City of London Festival, he will conduct the world premiere of a composition by Miguel Azguime with the BBC Singers. Celso Antunes will also direct the SWR Vocal Ensemble at the Salzburg Festival, which in August will present "Quid est Deus" by Wolfgang Rihm. Celso Antunes will also make his debut as a guest conductor with the South Jutland Symphony in Denmark, and with the Radio Kamer Filharmonie and Holland Symfonia in the Netherlands.
"The conductor Celso Antunes had a dynamic thrust that was at times simply dramatic, his command of the orchestra and chorus was
absolutely first-rate!"
Belfast Telegraph