Vlaams Radio Koor - Brussels Philharmonic

Michel Tabachnik | Music Director
Since 2008, Michel Tabachnik has played a decisive role as music director of the Brussels
Philharmonic. With this orchestra he devises creative programmes that combine the traditional
repertoire with contemporary works, a clear testimony that there is no gap between the music of
yesteryear and today. His credo is: ‘the Brussels Philharmonic is not intended to be a museum but
a platform of living music.’
With a residence in the Cité de la musique in Paris, regular appearances at the Concertgebouw in
Amsterdam, at the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg, at the festivals of Besançon and of
Strasbourg, Michel Tabachnik and his orchestra have for several seasons been reinforcing their
international reputation. Moreover, recent concerts at the Vienna Musikverein, in Berlin and in
London have been met with immense enthusiasm and brought renewed invitations from all
corners. The press has also proven an ardent supporter of the work of Michel Tabachnik, who, as
the Libre Belgique put it, "is being recorded in the annals", or, according to the Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung, attests to a "clockwork precision and extreme meticulousness".
Michel Tabachnik studied piano, composition and conducting in Geneva. His studies barely
completed, he came to the attention of several major conductors, who gave him valuable
support. He first served as assistant to Igor Markevitch at the Spanish Radio Television
Orchestra in Madrid, after which he spent four years with Pierre Boulez, primarily at the BBC
Symphony Orchestra in London. Next, Karajan invited him to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic
over several years.
Since, Michel Tabachnik has been the principal conductor of the orchestra of the Gulbenkian
Foundation in Lisbon, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Lorraine and the Ensemble
InterContemporain in Paris. Collaborations with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Tokyo NHK, the Orchestre de Paris, SWR Stuttgart, Residentie
Orkest of The Hague, the Orchestra of the Fenice, Philharmony of Sint-Petersbourg,
Konzerhausorchester Berlin, NDR Hamburg and the festivals of Lucerne, Salzburg, Aix-enProvence and many others have enriched his career.
Very close to Stockhausen, Berio, Ligeti, Xenakis and Messiaen, Tabachnik has conducted
several world premieres.
His discography (Erato and Lyrinx) s’enrichit aujourd’hui des enregistrements sur le Label du
Brussels Philharmonic Recordings avec notamment son Sacre du printemps salué par le
Gramophone Magazine et son interprétation de La Mer de Debussy, classée numéro 1 par le
magazine Classica.
Michel Tabachnik is also a composer, and has received numerous commissions, the most recent
of which came from the Lyon Opera, for which he wrote "Benjamin, dernier nuit", a lyrical
drama based on a libretto by Régis Debray. His works have been recently played in the
Netherlands, France, Germany & Belgium. During Season 2014/2015, his latest work ‘Le livre de
Job’ will premiere at Cité de la musique, Paris.
Finally, he is also the author of several books, including De la musique avant toute chose [On
music above all things], a collection of reflections on 20th century music and the novel
‘L’Homme sauvage’.
Michel Tabachnik online www.tabachnik.org