Alexandre Bloch

French-born Alexandre Bloch assumed the position of Music Director of Orchestre National de Lille at the start of the 2016/17 season and has been Principal Guest Conductor of Düsseldorfer Symphoniker since September 2015.

Plans for the 2019/20 season with Lille include performances at the Bucharest Festival and the continuation of their Mahler Cycle (Symphonies 6, 7, 8 and 9) in Lille. The partnership’s strong commitment to contemporary music continues, including a new co-commission with the London Philharmonic Orchestra of a new work by celebrated Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. January 2020 sees the orchestra’s first UK tour in many years, for concerts in London, Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield and The Sage Gateshead. Guest conducting includes first visits to Het Gelders Orkest, MDR Sinfonieorchester, Bochumer Symphoniker, Queensland Symphony Orchestra and returns to Turku Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Dusseldorfer Symphoniker, where programmes include Buckner’s Symphony No. 7 and collaboration with international renowned soloists including Till Fellner and Alexej Gerassimez.

Recent highlights include debuts with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Tiroler Landstheater Orchester Innsbruck and Gurzenich-Orchester Köln and his acclaimed debut for Opéra de Lyon conducting George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence. Work with Orchestre National de Lille has included many symphonic programmes, the first tranche of his Mahler cycle, performances at the Festival de St Denis and at the Philharmonie de Paris, Stravinsky’s Petrushka and commercial recordings. Earlier seasons have taken him to Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestra of the National Centre for Performing Arts Beijing, Musikalische Akademie in Mannheim and Vancouver Symphony, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and a tour to Kuwait with London Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared at the Concertebouw Amsterdam with Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and returns with Orchestre National de Lille and Sergey Khachatryan in July 2020.

Past symphonic guest conducting has also included Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National d’Ile-de-France, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre National de France, the Nash Ensemble, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of Opera North, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Danish National Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain (Montréal), Brussels Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra, Filharmonia Poznanska, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Australian Youth Orchestra. With Orchestre National de Lille he conducted a concert version of Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles in Lille and at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. Opera work includes opera for children with Royal Danish Opera, and Donizetti’s l’Elisir d’Amore at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

Shortly after his Donatella Flick Competition success he made his debut with Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, replacing Mariss Jansons at short notice to conduct three performances of a challenging programme including Richard Strauss’ Tod und Verklärung and a Jörg Widmann commission for large orchestra. He was named one of “2012’s Talents” by the ADAMI (French Performing Right Society) and was a conducting fellow at the 2012 and 2013 Tanglewood Music Center Festival. He also drew the attention of conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Charles Dutoit, Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, Sir Mark Elder and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Born in 1985, Alexandre first graduated with diplomas in cello performance, harmony and conducting from Tours, Orléans and Lille. He then entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, to further his studies in composition and conducting. In 2012, he completed his Master’s Degree in Conducting in the studio of Zsolt Nagy, prior to gaining a Diploma and the Sir John Zochonis Junior Fellowship (2012/13 season) at the Royal Northern College of Music.  Admired for his musicality, enthusiasm and energy, his First Prize at the 2012 Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition attracted international attention and brought him the opportunity to serve as Assistant Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Recording releases with Orchestre National de Lille include a disc shining light on the work of Ernest Chausson with Véronique Gens (Outhere Music) and a disc focusing on French clarinet repertoire with Annelien van Wauwe (Pentatone). All performances of the Orchestra’s Mahler cycle have been live streamed on YouTube and remain available until April 2020. Many of the orchestra’s concerts have been broadcasted elsewhere online and on radio, including on France Musique and Mezzo.