f. 1959
The French conductor Pierre-André Valade is especially well-known and admired for his performances of repertoire from the 20th and 21st centuries, and receives regular invitations from major festivals and orchestras in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia/New Zealand. Of his many recordings, Grisey’s Les Espaces Acoustiques has been singled out for particular praise and won both the Diapason d’or de l’année 1999 and the Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros. Later recordings have also received awards.
Valade has recorded Harrison Birtwistle’s Theseus Game for Deutsche Grammophon, a piece he premiered along with Martyn Brabbins in Duisburg and conducted at Southbank Centre, BBC Proms, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Lucerne International Festival and in Berlin. In 2008 he received the Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros, this time under the category “conductor”, where he was the only award winner.
Pierre-André Valade made his BBC Proms debut in 2001, and has appeared at the Aldeburgh, Bath International and Holland festivals, Strasbourg Musica, Oslo Ultima, Monte Carlo Le Printemps des Arts, Nice Manca, Paris Ircam Agora, Radio-France Présences, and in Perth, Sydney, Wellington and Tokyo.
In 2005 he conducted the world premiere of Marc Monnet’s opera Pan for the Opera du Rhin in Strasbourg. In 2006, he conducted London performances of Mixtur by Stockhausen with the London Sinfonietta and a portrait of Helmut Lachenmann with the Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra. In 2008, he participated in the centenary of Messiaen’s birth, conducting works in London, Wellington, Basel and Hanoi.
Valade frequently conducts Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, BBC Symphony and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Ulster Orchestra, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, London Sinfonietta and other internationally renowned orchestras.
In January 2001 Valade was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture.
Pierre-André Valade is chief conductor of Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen for the period 2009 – 2012.
Photo: Claude Dufêtre