In 2017, Charles Dutoit received one of classical music’s highest honours, the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal, becoming the 103rd recipient since the medal was founded in 1870 in celebration of the centenary of the birth of Beethoven.
Principal guest conductor of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic and former Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, he has captivated audiences throughout the world and is one of today’s most sought- after conductors.
Following an artistic collaboration with the Philadelphia Orchestra that spanned 32 years, he performed every season with the orchestras of Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles and is also a regular guest on the stages in London, Berlin, Paris, Munich, Moscow, Sydney, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo.
His more than 200 recordings have garnered multiple awards and distinctions including two Grammys.
For 25 years, Charles Dutoit was Artistic Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Furthermore, from 1991 to 2001, he was Music Director of the Orchestre National de France and in 1996, was appointed Principal Conductor and soon thereafter, Music Director of the NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo). He is today Music Director Emeritus of this Orchestra.
Charles Dutoit has successively been Music Director of the Sapporo Pacific Music Festival and Miyazaki International Music Festival in Japan as well as the Canton International Summer Music Academy in Guangzhou, China and the Lindenbaum Festival in Seoul, South Korea. Music Director of the Verbier Festival Orchestra between 2009 and 2017, he is now Conductor Emeritus. He has toured China 32 times, giving Chinese Premieres of such works as Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Britten War Requiem, Strauss Elektra and Salome.
When still in his early 20’s, Charles Dutoit was invited by Von Karajan to conduct at the Vienna State Opera. He has since conducted at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the Rome Opera and Teatro Coldn in Buenos Aires.
In 2014, he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Classical Music Awards.
A globetrotter motivated by his passion for history and archaeology, political science, art and architecture, he has traveled in all 196 nations of the world.
