Yan Pascal Tortelier conductor
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. Since then Yan Pascal Tortelier's career has included engagements with leading orchestras throughout Europe, North America, Japan and Australia.

In recognition of his outstanding work as Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic between 1992 and 2003, Yan Pascal Tortelier has been given the title of the Conductor Laureate and continues working with the Orchestra regularly.

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 such orchestras as the London Symphony, Philharmonia and London Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala Milan, Radio Filharmonische Orkest Holland, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and in North America with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco, Baltimore and Pittsburgh Symphony orchestras, Montreal Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Recent/future guest conducting engagements include return visits to the Pittsburgh, Dallas, San Francisco, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and London Symphony orchestras as well as Orchestre National de France and the Orchestre de Paris. This season Yan Pascal Tortelier commenced the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

The Northern Sinfonia
Northern Sinfonia and its Music Director Thomas Zehetmair command a unique position in Europe. With repertoire spanning three centuries, from early baroque to the twentieth century and commissioned new work, the orchestra gives committed and revelatory performances that imply that "the ink is still wet" on composers' scores.

In 2004 the orchestra moved into its own spectacular multi-million pound home for music, The Sage Gateshead, on the south bank of the Tyne in the Northeast of England. It is the first building in the world to be designed for the performing arts by Lord Foster's architectural practice.

Northern Sinfonia is central to the extensive international programme of music produced and presented by The Sage Gateshead. The orchestra's work includes concerts, recordings, broadcasts and national and international touring with Thomas Zehetmair and other distinguished musicians including Pierre- Laurent Aimard, Frans Brüggen, Imogen Cooper, Thierry Fischer, Lesley Garrett, Evelyn Glennie, Heinz Holliger, Gidon Kremer, Sir Roger Norrington and Heinrich Schiff.

Simon Halsey, Principal Conductor, Choral Programme, has joined the team to lead on choral development at The Sage Gateshead, working with Northern Sinfonia Chorus and the orchestra.