Ilan Volkov
conductor
Ilan Volkov has been appointed the new Principal Guest Conductor of Brussels Philharmonic, starting in the 2022/23 season. He will develop and expand the path of new music with the orchestra, with a clear focus on performance as well as research.
'I am thrilled to embark on this adventure with Brussels Philharmonic. During the several projects that I was able to work on with the orchestra last year, I felt the openness and appetite to discover new musical ground. The level of the orchestra and the individual musicians is so high that as Principal Guest Conductor I will have all the ingredients necessary to explore new horizons. Together we will build a laboratory – a dynamic hub for the development and performance of new music.'
Born in Israel in 1976, Ilan Volkov began his conducting career at the age of nineteen as Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony. In 2003 he was appointed Principal Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and subsequently became its Principal Guest Conductor in 2009. Between 2011 and 2014, he was appointed Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. A frequent guest with leading orchestras worldwide, Ilan works regularly with a wide range of repertoire and ensembles, and appears in many of the foremost Festivals of the world, including Salzburg, Edinburgh, BBC Proms, Lucerne, Unsound Krakow, Musikprotkoll and Berlin.
Considered to be the electricity powering 'new music', Ilan launched ‘Tectonics’ in Reykjavik, with Glasgow Tectonics following shortly afterwards. Tectonics’ vibrant and diverse programming, reflecting Ilan’s omnivorous interests in experimental, free improvisation, electronic, folk, world music and new hip-hop, has now been presented numerous times with regular festivals in Adelaide, Oslo, New York, Tel Aviv and Reykjavik. Recent highlights include Bach’s Actus Tragicus in Stuttgart Opera and Neuwirth’s Die Outcast in Vienna and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie.