Major upgrade: Timpanist gets conductor contract
mainWhen two conductors cancelled on the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France last December, up stepped the timpanist and did a terrific job.
Adrien Perruchon, 32, had been taking lessons with Esa-Pekka Salonen, François-Xavier Roth and Alain Altinoglu.
As of today, he is a fully-fledged conductor with a contract at a major agency. He will be managed by the London office of KD Schmid, the Hannover agency that walks big and tall since it signed Andris Nelsons to Boston.
Go, Adrien!
KD Schmid has been a major agency for decades, both for artist management and for tours. Its reputation has been established long before Nelsons started to learn his craft.
I believe KD Schmid handled the Philadelphia Orchestra’s just-completed European tour.
Could be a logical progression; there are some timpanists who influence a performance more than some conductors do. The timpanist of the Philharmonia in the early 50s is alleged to have said after the first rehearsal with HVK, “We’ll have to watch that Karajan – he nearly got away from me once or twice.” I hope it’s true.