Jonathan Nott is the new Music Director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, with an international career combining a solid vocal background, extensive operatic and symphonic experience, and a deep commitment to contemporary music.
He began his musical training as a boy soloist with Louis Frémaux and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He sang as a tenor at the University of Cambridge and studied operatic singing at the Royal Northern College of Music. As a répétiteur at the London Opera Studio, he trained in conducting with David Parry and gained experience in major operatic productions, including Tosca at the organ, Parsifal at Covent Garden under the baton of Bernard Haitink, and the recording of Donizetti’s L’Assedio di Calais for Opera Rara. As a tenor, he sang with the choirs of St Paul’s and Westminster Cathedrals.
His first permanent position was as a répétiteur at the Frankfurt Opera, under the direction of Garry Bertini, who also offered him his first opportunities as a conductor. The success of productions such as Mozart’s La finta giardiniera and Heinz Holliger’s Beckett Trilogy led to further engagements, including The Nose by Shostakovich and Weill’s Mahagonny.
As First Kapellmeister at the Wiesbaden Opera, he conducted an exceptionally wide repertoire, ranging from classical and major romantic works to 20th-century music and musical theatre, including a new production of Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet. At the Maifestspiele festival he conducted Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen and Richard Strauss’s Elektra.
During his time in Frankfurt, he developed a strong interest in contemporary music, conducting works by composers such as Ligeti, Boulez, Stockhausen, Lachenmann, Hosokawa, Eötvös and Gubaidulina, as well as by younger generations of composers. Highlights include the first Hungarian production of Le Grand Macabre at the Budapest Opera and choreographic projects with the Béjart Ballet.
He has held major international positions, including Music Director of Lucerne Opera, Principal Conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain. He made his debut with SWR at the Baden-Baden Festival with Elektra (production by Ruth Berghaus) and, as Music Director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, led major operatic productions at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.
Among his operatic projects are concert performances of Tristan und Isolde at the Edinburgh Festival, and of Falstaff and Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Lucerne Festival with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, of which he was Chief Conductor from 2000 to 2016, as well as a new complete production of Der Ring at Theater Basel.
During his twelve years as Chief Conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, he developed an intense programme of concert opera performances, widely acclaimed by the Japanese specialist press. His recent projects include Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise in Geneva, concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker, and a tour of Germany with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, where he served as Principal Conductor from 2014 to 2024.
In 2025 he began the year with an intensive international schedule, with engagements across Europe and Asia, including symphonic and operatic projects, and an Asian tour with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
Jonathan Nott is a Reiki Master and understands conducting as a process of shaping and transmitting shared human energy between musicians, singers and listeners. This perspective profoundly informs his artistic practice.
His extensive discography includes landmark recordings with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, many of which have received major international awards.