Pedro Halffter Caro, born in Madrid, is Artistic Director of both Seville’s Teatro de la Maestranza and the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, and Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria.

Between 2001 and 2004 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, as well as holding the position of Principal Conductor of the Bayreuth Festival Youth Orchestra in 2002 and 2003.

He has conducted some of the world’s leading ensembles, including the Philharmonia Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, New Japan Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Berlin, Dresden Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic and Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, as well as most of the orchestras in Spain, at such major international venues as the Vienna Musikverein, the Konzerthaus Berlin, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Madrid’s Teatro Real, Tokyo’s Opera City Concert Hall and the Shanghai Concert Hall.

Halffter studied at the prestigious Schule Schloss Salem in Germany, and attended conducting classes with such eminent teachers as Karl Oesterreicher, Bruno Weil, Ilya Musin and Ferdinand Leitner, continuing his studies at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik (conducting) and in New York (composition).

Highlights of his achievements in the symphonic field include his hugely successful tours of Japan and China with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria and of Germany, Austria and Switzerland with the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, with whom he also took part in the cultural events organised in conjunction with the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Considered one of the best orchestral conductors of his generation, he has also established a successful career in the opera house, conducting a wide-ranging repertoire of over thirty works, including Bizet’s Carmen and Bellini’s Norma with the Dresden Philharmonic, and Puccini’s La fanciulla del West and Turandot, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and The Flying Dutchman, and Busoni’s Turandot at the Teatro de la Maestranza with the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla. He also conducted the Spanish premieres of Schreker’s Der ferne Klang, Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg and Eine florentinische Tragödie, Busoni’s Doktor Faust and Strauss’s Die schweigsame Frau at the Teatro de la Maestranza, and of Krenek’s Orpheus und Euridyke at Madrid’s Teatro Real.

He conducted Katharina Wagner’s new production of Tannhäuser, and in 2009 made his debut at the Berlin Staatsoper with Strauss’s Salome, returning to that venue twice within a year to conduct Der ferne Klang and further performances of Salome.

Pedro Halffter has composed more than twenty works. These have been premiered by, among others, the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerakademie, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and Ensemble Intercontemporain, at venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid and the Dortmund Philharmonie.

Highlights of his recording career include Cristóbal Halffter’s Don Quijote for Glossa, two albums for Warner Music devoted to Falla and Korngold respectively, and two recorded with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria for Warner Classics & Jazz, featuring works by Schoenberg and Schreker.

Upcoming engagements include Wagner’s Rhinegold, Puccini’s La Bohème, Verdi’s Don Carlo and Britten’s Peter Grimes, his debut at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, and appearances with the OFGC at the Granada Festival.

Pedro Halffter is a member of Seville’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts of St Isabella of Hungary (Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Isabel de Hungría).

http://www.pedrohalffter.com