Hailed today as one of the most exciting conductors to emerge from France in recent years, Yan Pascal Tortelier has just stepped down as Principal Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, a position he has held since 1992. Born into an intensely musical family, son of the late Paul Tortelier, he studied piano and violin from the age of four and at fourteen won first prize for violin at the Paris Conservatoire. Following general musical studies with Nadia Boulanger, Tortelier studied conducting with Franco Ferrara in Siena.

Yan Pascal Tortelier's career includes engagements with leading orchestras throughout Europe, the US, Japan and Australia, and in Britain he has worked with all the major orchestras. For several years he was Associate Conductor of the Orchestre du Capitole in Toulouse, and from 1989-92 he was Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Ulster Orchestra. In recognition of his success in Northern Ireland he has received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Ulster.

As Principal Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier appeared regularly throughout the UK with appearances at the BBC Proms and at leading festivals both in the UK and abroad. In 1995 he conducted the Orchestra on a highly successful USA tour celebrating the BBC Philharmonic’s 60th anniversary season. In recognition of his outstanding work as Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic for the last 11 years, he has been given the title of the Conductor Laureate and will continue working with the Orchestra in future seasons.

Yan Pascal Tortelier has an exclusive contract with Chandos records and has made many highly praised recordings with the BBC Philharmonic. Their recording of the Symphony in C by Dukas was awarded the prestigious Diapason d'Or and their most recent recordings of works by Lutoslawski, Fauré and Roussel have all received the highest critical acclaim. Following his recordings of Debussy and Ravel’s complete orchestral works with the Ulster Orchestra, Yan Pascal Tortelier is currently recording the complete cycle of orchestral works of Dutilleux and Roussel, in addition to a series devoted to the works of Hindemith with the BBC Philharmonic.

Yan Pascal Tortelier’s orchestration of Ravel's Piano Trio was premiered in 1992 and the following year received great critical acclaim at a highly successful London Proms performance with the BBC Philharmonic. A few seasons ago it was premiered at the Prague Spring Festival, in San Francisco, Tokyo and Melbourne. The work is available on CD as part of Tortelier's Debussy/Ravel cycle.

During recent seasons Yan Pascal Tortelier has worked with many leading orchestras such as the NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, Deutsche Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Orchestre de Paris, Philharmonia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with appearances in Amsterdam and Vienna. Future/recent guest conducting engagements include performances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Danish Radio Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony orchestras, and in North America conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and Montreal Symphony orchestras. In recognition of his outstanding work with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Yan Pascal Tortelier was appointed the Orchestra’s first Principal Guest Conductor.