Robertson, David
Robertson, David
Robertson, David , American conductor and composer; b. Santa Monica, Calif., July 19, 1958. He received training in horn, viola, conducting, and composition. In 1976 he became a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and he also attended the Hilversum conducting courses in 1979 and 1980, and concurrently studied privately with Kondrashin before attending the master class given by Kubelik in Lucerne in 1981. In 1980 he took 2nd prize at the Nicolai Malko Competition in Copenhagen, and then was an assistant at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf in 1981. He was a resident conductor of the Jerusalem Sym. Orch. from 1985 to 1987. In 1992 he became music director of the Ensemble InterContemporain in Paris. He became music director of the Orchestre National de Lyon in 2000. In addition to conducting contemporary scores in Paris, Robertson appeared as a guest conductor of the traditional repertoire with various European and American orchs. and in various opera houses. His compositions include Quartet for 4 Trombones (1978–79); Ricercar I for Harpsichord and Strings (1981), II for Brass Quintet (1983–84), and III for Trombone and Marimba (1984–86); an unfinished operatic trilogy: part 1, Dangerous Children (1989–90).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire