Lionel Bringuier - NOSPR

Music Director of Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège
Principal Conductor of Nice Philharmonic Orchestra

Lionel Bringuier has already travelled extensively across the globe at the invitation of symphonies, chamber orchestras and opera houses, and in the 2023/24 season he continues the position of Artiste Associé in his hometown with Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. This unique appointment gives him the opportunity to curate a series of special programmes which he will also conduct, and to invite several of his closest musical partners, which in this season include Khatia Buniatishvili,Philippe Bianconi, Daniel Müller-Schott, Renaud Capuçon and Alexandre Tharaud.

Very well-known across Europe and most recently having served as Music Director of Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich (2014–18), Bringuier has held previous posts at Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León in Valladolid, Orchestre de Bretagne and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris. Bringuier’s relationship with Los Angeles Philharmonic from 2007-2013 started with position of a first assistant conductor to Esa-Pekka Salonen at the age of 21, and developed into a role of associate conductor and later resident conductor – as the first person to hold this title in the orchestra's history. The 2023/24 season will feature concerts with Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Dresden Philharmonie, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre National de Metz. Other highlights of this season include USA engagements with San Diego Symphony Orchestra and Colburn School Orchestra, as well as BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Paris Conservatoire Orchestra.

Over the past decade, Bringuier’s work across North America has developed a strong relationship with many orchestras, including Houston Symphony and at the Aspen Music Festival in the 2021/22 season. He has also worked extensively in Asia, conducting Tokyo Symphony Orchestra regularly and working with Seoul and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestras. In 2019, he returned to Australia with a programme of Russian music with Sydney Symphony Orchestra and conducted a French programme with West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Perth.

Bringuier regularly collaborates with Yuja Wang, with whom he has recorded the Ravel Piano Concerto for Deutsche Grammophon as part of a complete cycle of the composer’s works. Other recordings include Chopin with Nelson Freire (DG) and Saint-Saëns with Renaud Capuçon and Gautier Capuçon (Erato) who are also regular partners. He works closely with some of the finest instrumentalists in the world, including Lisa Batiashvili, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yefim Bronfman, Emanuel Ax, Leif Ove Andsnes and Janine Jansen.

Bringuier comes from a family of musicians and studied cello and conducting at the Conservatoire de Paris, winning the prestigious International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors only a year after graduating. He cares passionately about education, outreach, and developing the careers of emerging conductors and soloists. In September 2020 he served on the jury of La Maestra, the first international conducting competition for women, and continues to work with local schools in his hometown of Nice to introduce children to classical music and orchestral experiences.

Bringuier was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by the French government and has been lauded with the Médaille d’or à l’unanimité avec les félicitations du jury à l’Académie Prince Rainier III de Monaco and the Médaille d’or from the City of Nice.