About
Kent Nagano is considered one of today’s outstanding conductors for both operatic and orchestral repertoire. Since the season 2026/27, he is the Chief conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (OCNE) in Madrid and was appointed as the Principal Artistic Partner of Filarmonica Toscanini in the season 2025/26. He has been Honorary Conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin since 2006, Concerto Köln since 2019, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 2021 and the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg since 2023 and is as patron of the Herrenchiemsee Festival.
As a much sought-after guest conductor, Kent Nagano regularly works with leading international orchestras worldwide. 2026/27 season highlights include projects with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the WDR Symphony Orchestra amongst others. In addition, Kent Nagano will conduct the premiere of Jacques Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, as well as the production of John Adams’ Nixon in China at the Teatro alla Scala.
Kent Nagano, together with Jan Vogler, is the artistic director of »The Wagner Cycles«, a Ring project developed between 2023 and 2026 by the Dresden Music Festival with the Dresden Festival Orchestra and Concerto Köln. Every year one of the four parts of Wagner’s »Der Ring des Nibelungen« was staged according to historically informed performance practice. From 2027 on, Kent Nagano will conduct the Dresden Festival Orchestra in several complete performances of »The Ring of the Nibelungen«, including a performance at the Konzerthaus Wien. During the 2026/27 season, the final part of »The Ring«, Götterdämmerung, will be performed in a concert verision at the Lucerne Festival and at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
The premiere of Götterdämmerung took place in Dresden during the 2025/26 season. The production then went on tour and was staged in Bayreuth, Hamburg and Cologne. In addition, Kent Nagano conducted the premiere of John Adams’ Nixon in China at the Teatro alla Scala that season. Concert highlights in 2025/26 included performances with the Orchestra Filarmonica del Teatro La Fenice, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, the hr-Sinfonieorchester, and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
From 2015 to 2025 Kent Nagano was General Music Director of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and State Opera, where his tenure included major productions such as Boris Godunov, Salome, Peter Grimes, Les Troyens and Lulu. Previously, he was Music Director of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (2006–2020), General Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera (2006–2013) and Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.
The 2024/25 season was Kent Nagano’s final season as General Music Director in Hamburg. Highlights of his tenure included opera productions such as Boris Godunov, Salome, performances of Sciarrino’s Venere e Adone and Britten’s Peter Grimes, Les Troyens, Lulu, Lessons in Love and Violence, and the world premiere of Stilles Meer, as well as Les Contes d’Hoffmann in the new production by Daniele Finzi Pasca (released on DVD by EuroArts, February 2022). Other highlights were the »Philharmonic Academy« at St. Michaelis, open-air concerts at the Rathausmarkt, and the world premiere of Pascal Dusapin’s Waves for organ and orchestra at the Elbphilharmonie. Orchestral tours with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg have taken Nagano to Japan, Taiwan, China, Spain, and South America.
Highlights of Kent Nagano's collaboration with the OSM as Music Director from 2006 to 2020 included the inauguration of the orchestra’s new concert hall La Maison Symphonique in September 2011, performances of the complete cycles of Beethoven and Mahler symphonies, Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, concert versions of Wagner's Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde and Das Rheingold, Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au Bücher, and Messiaen's Saint François d'Assise. Tours have taken Nagano and the orchestra to Canada including the Northern Territories, Japan, South Korea, Europe (latest 2019), Latin America and the USA. In July 2018, Kent Nagano conducted Krzysztof Penderecki’s St. Luke Passion with the OSM at the Salzburg Festival opening concert.
His recordings with the OSM on Sony Classical/Analekta include Mahler’s Orchestral Songs with Christian Gerhaher in 2013 and a complete recording of all of Beethoven’s symphonies in 2015. Decca released a recording of the North American premiere of L'Aiglon, a rarely performed opera by Honegger and Ibert in 2016, conducted by Nagano in 2015. Further releases by Decca are Danse Macabre with works by Dukas, Saint-Saens, Ives and others in 2016 as well as a recording of Bernstein's A quiet place in 2018 on the occasion of the composer's 100th birthday. John Adams' Common tones in simple time & harmony (Decca) was released in 2019, the Lukas Passion by Penderecki (BIS) and works by Ginastera, Bernstein and Moussa (Analekta) in 2020.
At the Bayerische Staatsoper, where he was General Music Director from 2006 to 2013, Kent Nagano commissioned new operas such as Babylon by Jörg Widmann, Das Gehege by Wolfgang Rihm and Alice in Wonderland by Unsuk Chin. New productions included Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Frau ohne Schatten, Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites, Messiaen’s Saint François d'Assise, Berg’s Wozzeck, George Benjamin's Written on skin and Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Tours took Nagano and the Bavarian State Orchestra through Europe and Japan. In addition to Bruckner's Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7 (Sony), Kent Nagano has released several opera performances with the Bavarian State Orchestra on DVD: Unsuk Chin's opera Alice in Wonderland (2008) and Mussorgsky's Chowanschtschina (2009) with unitel classica/medici arts, Dialogue des Carmélites with Bel Air Classiques (2011) and Lohengrin (2010) with Decca.
Another very important period in Nagano’s career was his time as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin from 2000-2006. He performed Schönberg’s Moses und Aron with the orchestra (in collaboration with Los Angeles Opera) and took them to the Salzburg Festival to perform both Zemlinsky’s Der König Kandaules and Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten, as well as to the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden with Parsifal and Lohengrin in productions by Nikolaus Lehnhoff. Recordings with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin for Harmonia Mundi include repertoire as diverse as Bernstein’s Mass, Bruckner’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6, Beethoven’s Christus am Ölberge, Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, Schönberg’s Die Jakobsleiter and Friede auf Erden, as well as Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 and Schönberg’s Variationen für Orchester Op. 31. In June 2006, at the end of his tenure with the orchestra, Kent Nagano was given the title Honorary Conductor by members of the orchestra – only the second recipient of this honour in their 60-year history. To this day he maintains a close friendship with the orchestra. In October 2019, Kent Nagano and Mari Kodama expanded their joint recordings of Beethoven's works for piano and orchestra with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 0 E-flat Major WoO 4, a nearly unknown work from the composer’s youth, and his Rondo for Piano and Orchestra WoO 6 with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. The complete edition of Beethoven’s piano concerti was released on the Berlin Classics label.
Nagano was awarded Grammys for his recordings of Busoni’s Doktor Faust with Opéra National de Lyon, Prokofjew’s Peter and the Wolf with the Russian National Orchestra and Saariaho’s L’amour de Loin with the Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin. He has worked with labels such as BIS, Decca, Sony Classical, FARAO Classics and Analekta for many years, and has also recorded CDs with Berlin Classics, Erato, Teldec, Pentatone, Deutsche Grammophon and Harmonia Mundi.
To celebrate Kent Nagano's 70th birthday in 2021, a 3-CD box set of works by Olivier Messiaen was released in October on the BR Klassik label. The release includes live recordings of the works Poèmes pour Mi, Chronochromie and La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ from his concerts with the Symphonieorchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, demonstrating Nagano's close familiarity with Messiaen's musical language in a special way.
In September 2021, Kent Nagano published his second book with Berlin Verlag. In "10 Lessons of my Life", he recalls ten deeply personal encounters from which he learned important lessons, not only for his career but for his life more broadly. Among those experiences are encounters with the Icelandic pop artist Björk, Frank Zappa, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez and the Nobel Prize winner in physics Donald Glaser.
In 2015 Kent Nagano published »Erwarten Sie Wunder!« also in Berlin Verlag, a passionate appeal for the relevance of classical music in today's world. In 2019 the book was released in English by the Canadian McGill-Queen's University Press under the title »Classical Music - Expect the Unexpected« and in 2015 under »Sonnez, merveilles!» in French by Éditions du Boréal.
Born in California, Kent Nagano maintains close ties to his home state, serving as Music Director of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra from 1978 to 2009. His first major international success came in 1984 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, when Olivier Messiaen appointed him assistant to Seiji Ozawa for the premiere of Saint François d’Assise. This success in the United States led to a series of prominent European appointments, including Music Director of the Opéra National de Lyon (1988–1998) and of the Hallé Orchestra (1991–2000). In 2003, Nagano became the first Music Director of Los Angeles Opera, having previously served as its Principal Conductor for two years.
Kent Nagano has received Grammy Awards for recordings of Busoni’s Doktor Faust, Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and Saariaho’s L’amour de loin. His extensive discography includes recordings for BIS, Decca, Sony Classical Deutsche Grammophon, Analekta and Harmonia Mundi.
He has also received numerous honors, including the Order of Canada, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the »Ordre des arts et des lettres« of Québec and of France, and the Brahms Prize 2024.
Season 2026/27
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Kent Nagano gilt als einer der führenden Dirigenten sowohl im Opern- als auch im Orchesterrepertoire. Seit der Saison 2026/27 ist er Chefdirigent und künstlerischer Leiter des Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (OCNE) in Madrid, außerdem wurde er in der Saison 2025/26 für drei Jahre zum principal artistic partner der Filarmonica Toscanini ernannt. Seit 2006 ist er Ehrendirigent des Deutschen Symphonie-Orchesters Berlin, seit 2019 von Concerto Köln, seit 2021 des Orchestre symphonique de Montréal und seit 2023 des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Hamburg sowie Schirmherr der Herrenchiemsee Festspiele.
Kent Nagano ist gemeinsam mit Jan Vogler künstlerischer Leiter des zwischen 2023 und 2026 erarbeiteten Ring-Projekts »The Wagner Cycles« der Dresdner Musikfestspiele mit dem Dresdner Festspielorchester sowie Concerto Köln, im Rahmen dessen jährlich einer der vier Teile von Wagners »Der Ring des Nibelungen« nach historisch informierter Aufführungspraxis erarbeitet wurde. Ab 2027 wird Kent Nagano das Dresdner Festspielorchester in mehreren Gesamtaufführungen des Rings leiten, unter anderem im Konzerthaus Wien.
Von 2015 bis 2025 war Kent Nagano Generalmusikdirektor des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters sowie der Staatsoper Hamburg, wo er in seiner Amtszeit bedeutende Produktionen wie Boris Godunow, Salome, Peter Grimes, Les Troyens und Lulu realisierte. Zuvor war er Musikdirektor des Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (2006–2020), Generalmusikdirektor der Bayerischen Staatsoper (2006–2013) sowie künstlerischer Leiter und Chefdirigent des Deutschen Symphonie-Orchesters Berlin.
Als gefragter Gastdirigent arbeitet Kent Nagano regelmäßig mit führenden internationalen Orchestern weltweit zusammen. Zu den Höhepunkten der Saison 2026/27 zählen unter anderem Projekte mit dem Deutschen Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, dem Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, dem Philharmonischen Staatsorchester Hamburg, dem NHK Symphony Orchestra, dem Boston Symphony Orchestra, dem Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra und dem WDR Sinfonieorchester. Darüber hinaus wird Kent Nagano am Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino die Premiere von Jacques Offenbachs Les contes d‘Hoffmann sowie die Produktion von John Adams Nixon in China am Teatro alla Scala dirigieren.
Der in Kalifornien geborene Kent Nagano pflegt enge Verbindungen zu seinem Heimatstaat und war von 1978 bis 2009 Musikdirektor des Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. Seinen ersten großen internationalen Erfolg feierte er 1984 mit dem Boston Symphony Orchestra, als Olivier Messiaen ihn zum Assistenten von Seiji Ozawa für die Uraufführung von »Saint François d’Assise« ernannte. Dieser Erfolg in den Vereinigten Staaten führte zu einer Reihe bedeutender Engagements in Europa, darunter als Musikdirektor der Opéra National de Lyon (1988–1998) und des Hallé Orchestra (1991–2000). Im Jahr 2003 wurde Nagano der erste Musikdirektor der Los Angeles Opera, nachdem er zuvor für zwei Jahre als deren Chefdirigent tätig gewesen war.
Kent Nagano wurde für Aufnahmen von Busonis Doktor Faust, Prokofjews Peter und der Wolf und Saariahos L’amour de loin mit Grammy Awards ausgezeichnet. Seine umfangreiche Diskografie umfasst Aufnahmen für BIS, Decca, Sony Classical, Deutsche Grammophon, Analekta und Harmonia Mundi.
Er erhielt zudem zahlreiche Auszeichnungen, darunter den »Order of Canada«, den Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, den »Ordre des arts et des lettres« von Québec und Frankreich sowie den Brahms-Preis 2024.
Saison 2026/27
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