Christoph Eschenbach

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Christoph Eschenbach (born 20 February 1940) is a German pianist and conductor.

Early life

Eschenbach was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocaw, Poland). Margarethe (née Jaross) and Heribert Ringmann were both his parents. During World War II, he was orphaned. His mother died giving birth to him; his father, a politically active anti-Nazi, was sent to the Eastern Front as part of a Nazi punishment battalion, where he was killed. Because of this tragedy, Eschenbach did not speak for a year until he was asked if he wanted to play guitar. Wallydore Eschenbach (née Jaross), his mother's cousin, adopted him in 1946 and began to teach him how to play the piano. He attended a concert organized by Wilhelm Furtwängler that had a major influence on him at age 11. Eschenbach enrolled at the Musikhochschule in Cologne in 1955, studying piano with Hans-Otto Schmidt-Neuhaus and conducting with Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg. Eliza Hansen (piano) and Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg (conducting) continued studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.

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Musical career

Eschenbach, a pianist, has won numerous first-place piano competition awards, including the first prize in the Clara Haskil Competition in Vevey, Switzerland, in 1965. He made his first recording (of Mozart) for Deutsche Grammophon in 1964 and signed a contract with the company. Eschenbach continued to study under George Szell, who formerly worked for more than three years. In addition, he regarded Herbert von Karajan as a mentor.

Eschenbach, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich's chief guest conductor, performed from 1981 to 1986 and was chief conductor from 1982 to 1986. He served as the Pacific Music Festival's co-artistic director from 1992 to 1998. He served as chief conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg, from 1998 to 2004. He served as artistic director of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival from 1999 to 2003, and then became the principal conductor of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra in 2003. Eschenbach, the Orchestre de Paris's Music Director, worked from 2000 to 2010.

Eschenbach, a Houston Symphony Orchestra conductor, served from 1988 to 1999. During his time as well as numerous recordings with Koch International Classics and RCA, the orchestra toured Japan and Europe. The City of Houston donated a bronze commemorative star in honor of his performances and service with the Houston Symphony. From 1994 to 2005, he was music director of the Ravinia Festival.

Eschenbach has made more than 80 recordings as piano soloist, conductor, or both, and he has appeared in many television shows and has appeared on numerous European, Japanese, and American television networks. Eschenbach is credited with helping and assisting young musicians in their career growth, including soprano Renée Fleming, pianist Tzimon Barto and Lang Lang, cellists Claudio Bohrquez, Daniel Müller-Schott, and soprano Marisol Montalvo.

Later career

Eschenbach, the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO)'s sixth music director, as well as the newly appointed music director of the Kennedy Center, in September 2008. In September 2011, the NSO and the Kennedy Center announced that Eschenbach's contract would continue through the 2014-2015 season. The organisations revealed in March 2014 that Eschenbach's employment would continue through the 2016–2017 season. The NSO revealed in February 2015 that Eschenbach would finish his tenure as NSO music director after the 2016-2017 season ended. Eschenbach subsequently received the title of conductor Laureate of the NSO.

The Konzerthausorchester Berlin announced the appointment of Eschenbach as its next chief conductor, beginning with the 2019–2020 season, as part of the company's initial term of three years. The Konzerthausorchester Berlin announced the contract of Eschenbach through the 2022-2023 season. He is expected to step down from the Konzerthaus Berlin paper at the end of the 2022-2023 season.

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Honours and awards

• 1993: Pacific Music Festival, Leonard Bernstein Award
• 1993: Commander's Cross
• August 2002: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• October 2002: Legion d'honneur of France
• June 2006: Chevalier (knight) of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
• 2010: Order of Merit of Schleswig-Holstein
• 2015: Ernst von Siemens Music Prize