Maestro Jonathan Nott will become the new Music Director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu starting in the 2026/2027 season and for five seasons. Nott succeeds Maestro Pons after fourteen years leading the Theatre’s Orchestra. Jonathan Nott’s career, marked by profound mastery and a contemporary sensitivity, traces a sonic journey from Mozart and Schubert to Mahler, Bruckner, and Shostakovich, reaching the very edge of contemporary creation.
The Gran Teatre del Liceu warmly and enthusiastically welcomes Jonathan Nott at the beginning of a new artistic chapter spanning the next five seasons from 2026/2027 onwards.
Recognised as one of the undisputed names in orchestral conducting on an international scale, Nott stands out for his unique and unmistakable artistic personality, his remarkable communicative ability, and a way of making music that goes beyond sound itself.
Nott, a true master craftsman in building orchestras, is a creator of original musical narratives and a generator of stimuli that connect with audiences on multiple levels. A musician deeply engaged with his time, he fully identifies with the values of the Liceu, an institution that today joyfully celebrates his arrival and opens a new chapter with its sights set on excellence.
According to Jonathan Nott himself:
“This appointment is a great privilege and truly an honour for me. Since childhood, I have been deeply connected to the world of singing and opera, and whenever I have had the opportunity to conduct in Barcelona, I have felt a very special connection with its audience.
Just two weeks ago, I had the chance to attend a performance of Rusalka by Dvořák at the Liceu, performed by its magnificent orchestra and chorus under the baton of Josep Pons. The rapport among the musicians and the energy they conveyed were absolutely inspiring.
Receiving the proposal to take on the musical direction of the Gran Teatre del Liceu has been an immense honour and a responsibility I take on with great enthusiasm. I am looking forward to reuniting with this great team at the start of the 2026–2027 season and embarking on this enriching journey together.”
In the words of Josep Pons:
“I warmly applaud the appointment of Jonathan Nott as my successor in the musical direction of the Gran Teatre del Liceu. I believe it is an excellent decision and wonderful news both for the Theatre and for the musical world of our country.
The Theatre has done things right: with a careful selection process, in a discreet manner, and for the first time, with the involvement of the Orchestra throughout this journey.
My warmest congratulations also to Jonathan. He will find a great Theatre, with top-level musical ensembles, full of enthusiasm and eager to make the best music possible. Congratulations!”
Jonathan Nott, new Music Director of the Liceu
Jonathan Nott was a boy solo singer (with Louis Frémaux and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra), sang as a tenor at the University of Cambridge, and studied operatic singing at the Royal Northern College of Music. As a repetiteur at the London Opera Studio, he trained in conducting with David Parry, performed Tosca on the organ, conducted the offstage chorus in Parsifal at Covent Garden (under the baton of Bernard Haitink), and conducted the offstage orchestra in 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 position was as repetiteur at the Frankfurt Opera under the direction of Garry Bertini, who also gave him his first chance as conductor: Mozart’s La finta giardiniera and Heinz Holliger’s Beckett Trilogy, whose success led him to conduct Shostakovich’s The Nose and Weill’s Mahagonny.
As First Kapellmeister of the Wiesbaden Opera, he conducted a wide repertoire: from Cimarosa, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Gounod, Puccini, Shostakovich, Weill, Maxwell Davies and Henze, to a new production of Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet, including Sondheim and Little Shop of Horrors. He also conducted Wagner’s Ring Cycle (with Siegfried Jerusalem) and R. Strauss’s Elektra (with Eva Marton) at the Maifestspiele festival.
During his time in Frankfurt, he developed a strong interest in contemporary music, conducting works by Ligeti (Hungary’s first production of Le Grand Macabre at the Budapest Opera), Boulez (Béjart ballet), Stockhausen, Lachenmann, Hosokawa, Eötvös, Gubaidulina, and numerous younger-generation composers.
Jonathan Nott has held positions as Music Director of the Lucerne Opera, Principal Conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain. He debuted with the SWR at the Baden-Baden Festival with Elektra (production by Ruth Berghaus, starring Hildegard Behrens), and as Music Director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande he promoted new productions of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Wagner’s Parsifal, and R. Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier at Geneva’s Grand Théâtre. He conducted concert versions of Tristan und Isolde at the Edinburgh Festival, and of Falstaff and The Ring at the Lucerne Festival with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, where he was Principal Conductor from 2000 to 2016. He has just completed a new production of The Ring at Theater Basel.
During his 12 years as Principal Conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Nott and Sir Thomas Allen conducted a series of operatic concert performances: the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy, Salome (with Asmik Grigorian), Elektra (with Christine Goerke), chosen as “Best Concert in Japan 2023-24” by Ongaku no Tomo magazine, Der Rosenkavalier, and Schönberg’s Gurrelieder.
Recent projects include the production of Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise directed by Adel Abdessemed in Geneva, Mahler’s Seventh with the New Japan Philharmonic, two concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic featuring works by Mazzoli, Eötvös and Ives, and a tour of Germany with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, where he was Principal Conductor from 2014 to 2024.
After the New Year’s Gala with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (featuring Juliana Grigoryan), he began 2025 conducting the SWR (Zemlinsky), followed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (Boulez), the Dresdner Philharmonie (Pelléas and The Rite of Spring), a complete version of Die Fledermaus at the Tokyo Spring Festival, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich (Messiaen and Mahler), and is currently on tour in Asia with the OSR.
Jonathan Nott is a Reiki master: “Over the years I have come to understand that true greatness in musical conducting simply lies in the formation and reformulation of an inexorable human energy, in constant flow, created by musicians and singers, and transmitted and reflected by the listener through this fundamental and wonderful form of nonverbal communication we call ‘music.’ Music heals: this is its only true purpose, and ours as well.”
Jonathan Nott has an extensive discography, including the complete orchestral works of Ligeti with the Berlin Philharmonic and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Vienna Philharmonic and Jonas Kaufmann. His recordings with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra include works by Janáček, Bruckner, Wagner (with Klaus Florian Vogt), as well as the complete symphonic cycles of Schubert and Mahler. The latter received the “Internationaler Schallplattenpreis Toblacher Komponierhäuschen 2009” and the MIDEM award for best classical recording in 2010 (for Mahler’s Ninth), and the recognition as “best Mahler Fifth on record” according to the French magazine Classica in February 2022.
His first recording with the OSR included works by Richard Strauss, Debussy, and Ligeti (Pentatone 2018), followed by a disc themed on Pelléas et Mélisande, with works by Debussy and Schönberg, which received a “Choc” from Classica and the “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik” (German Record Critics’ Award). A third CD (2022) featured pianist Francesco Piemontesi with works by Ravel, Schönberg, and Messiaen. In 2025 the first studio recording of Dieter Ammann’s four orchestral works (Schweizer Fonogramm) will be released, along with a live performance of the Heroic Symphony and the overture to William Tell on the OSR’s “Virtual Hall” platform.
The COVID-19 years fostered innovation with the OSR: a live broadcast of Beethoven’s Ninth, a series of daily online sessions on how conducting works, followed by an introduction to Mahler’s Ninth and a performance of the complete symphony, produced by Actua Films, from Geneva’s Victoria Hall. In 2025, the first studio recording of Dieter Ammann’s four orchestral works (Schweizer Fonogramm) and a live performance of the Heroic Symphony and the overture to William Tell will be released on the OSR’s “Virtual Hall” platform.
His discography with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, which includes works by Mahler, Bruckner (1, 2, 5, 7, and 9), and Tchaikovsky (2, 3, 5, and 6), will be expanded this month with releases of Beethoven (2 and 5) and Brahms (2) (EXTON/OCTAVIA).
Josep Pons, Honorary Music Director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu
Maestro Josep Pons will be Honorary Music Director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu starting from the 2026/2027 season.
The distinction of Honorary Music Director is a symbolic title that the Gran Teatre del Liceu grants to figures who have maintained an outstanding, lasting, and especially significant relationship with the institution. It is an institutional gesture of recognition and gratitude toward those personalities who, although not holding an active regular conducting position, have left a profound mark on the artistic development of the Theatre.
In this regard, the Liceu has appointed Maestro Josep Pons i Viladomat as Honorary Music Director, "in recognition of the exceptional artistic and cultural merits of Maestro Josep Pons i Viladomat, as well as his strong commitment to the institution." Throughout his career as Music Director of the Liceu, he has played a decisive role in its artistic consolidation, "bringing a renewing vision, inspiring leadership, and transformative capacity."
Under his baton, the Liceu has achieved highly significant artistic milestones, positioning itself as a prestigious reference both nationally and internationally. As stated in the official appointment text, "his work has been key to the projection and consolidation of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, placing it as a prestigious reference in the musical and cultural field."
With this recognition, the Liceu expresses its gratitude for his fruitful contribution and the long journey that connects him to the institution, starting with his debut in 1993 and culminating in fourteen years leading the Theatre’s musical project, a period marked by excellence and artistic commitment. The appointment is meant to be an expression of the "deepest respect, affection, and gratitude from the entire Liceu family, for an artistic contribution that transcends time and will continue to be a reference."
Josep Pons has expressed his gratitude for being named Honorary Music Director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu: “I am deeply thankful to the institution of the Gran Teatre del Liceu for the honor bestowed on me with the appointment as Honorary Music Director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu. It is the theatre I love, with the people I love, and in the country I love.” After fourteen years of working as music director, he wanted to highlight that “these have been fourteen years of intense work, not easy, but always carried out with the utmost commitment.” He also had heartfelt words for the Theatre’s musical bodies and especially for the orchestra: “In this gratitude, I cannot forget the Theatre’s musical bodies and, very especially, the orchestra, my travelling companions. I appreciate their dedication, energy, their excellent musical skills, but also their humanity. From here, my most sincere and profound admiration. Likewise, this goes for the entire Musical Department team: without their patient and discreet work, we would not have been able to achieve what we have over these years.” Pons concluded: “With great emotion, thank you very much!”