Adelaide Symphony appoints a bright, young and seriously talented Aussie as its next leader.

The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra today announced the appointment of Melbourne-born Nicholas Carter as its next Principal Conductor to follow on from Arvo Volmer whose tenure expires at the end of the year. At 29, Carter will be one of the youngest leaders of an Australian state orchestra ever and it will be the first time an Australian has been appointed to such a post since Stuart Challender was named Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony in 1987.

In further exciting news for South Australians, Carter will head up a new artistic leadership team that includes renowned British conductor, Jeffrey Tate, as Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Adviser as well as world famous violinist and conductor, Pinchas Zukerman as Artist-in-Association. The new line-up will be in place for two years, starting in 2016.

Carter is one of Australia’s fastest rising stars at home and abroad. A protege of Richard Gill during his time in Melbourne, he was appointed Associate Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra by Vladimir Ashkenazy. He went on to be musical assistant to Simone Young at the Hamburg State Opera and is currently Berlin-based, having been made Kapellmeister of the Deutsche Oper Berlin by the American maestro Donald Runnicles. He has kept his ties with Australia, conducting several of the state orchestras in recent years and has been the ASO’s Associate Guest Conductor since 2014.

“I am hugely honoured and humbled to take this position with the ASO from 2016,” Carter said. “Working with the ASO was one of my very first professional conducting engagements. I’ve never felt more comfortable or at ease than I do working with this orchestra. I’m thrilled to see where the relationship will go next year and the years following and enjoy some intense music making.”

With the exception of Nicolette Fraillon at the Australian Ballet and Simone Young’s relatively brief tenure at Opera Australia, Carter joins a select club in recent memory of home-grown leaders of major Australian orchestras. Speaking to Limelight yesterday he revealed a few of his exciting plans, including an opening concert which will include Act I of Wagner’s Die Walküre with New Zealand heldentenor Simon O’Neill and American soprano Michelle De Young as the Wälsung twins Siegmund and Sieglinde. His final concert will see young Australian violin virtuoso Grace Clifford playing the Sibelius concerto as well as the ASO tackling Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique and Messiaen’s rarely performed Le Tombeau Resplendissant. “I think my appointment comes at a really interesting time in the musical and cultural landscape in Australia and throughout the world where orchestras and other cultural organisations are trying to redefine their relevance in the world in the 21st century,” Carter said. “I’m passionate about the merits of bringing classical music to as many people as possible and to engage not only the communities that already know about the ASO but also the communities that perhaps have had no experience or exposure to orchestral music so far.”

“Today’s announcement is an exciting moment in the life of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and in the cultural life of Australia,” said ASO Managing Director, Vincent Ciccarello. “The appointment of new artistic leadership team is a statement of our belief in the future of the ASO: a future of discovery and adventure that is grounded in and respectful of tradition and our history – appropriate given we celebrate our 80th anniversary next year. Nicholas Carter’s ability, musical personality and maturity belie his age. That he can be joined by two musical luminaries in Jeffrey Tate and Pinchas Zukerman is an extraordinary opportunity for the ASO and for music in Australia.”

Tate, whose 1998 production of Wagner’s Ring with State Opera of South Australia is considered a defining moment in the history of the ASO as well as for Australian opera in general, will be a welcome return guest in 2016. “One of the great experiences of my musical life in the last 40 years was my time with the ASO when I did the complete Ring Cycle,” he said. “This will be the beginning of something very special for me and I am very excited about bringing new and young talent with me over the next two seasons. It’s a rebirth of my relationship with Australia and particularly with Adelaide which I love.”

Zukerman, described by Vincent Ciccarello as “quite simply, music royalty”, was similarly delighted. “I am tremendously excited about coming back and working on a regular basis both as a conductor, as a player and as teacher as well,” he said, affirming his noted committment to music education. “I hope we can combine efforts and make it all worthwhile for the new generation that’s coming up, as musicians and listeners.”

Ciccarello also paid tribute to outgoing Music Director Arvo Volmer’s 10-year commitment to the ASO. “We continue to reap the rewards of his artistic legacy,” he said, “and we look forward to continuing our relationship with Arvo as a guest conductor into the future.”