Mark Elder is Music Director of the Hallé Orchestra, having taken up his appointment in September 2000. He was Music Director of English National Opera between 1979 and 1993, Principal Guest Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1992 – 1995, and Music Director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in the USA from 1989 – 1994. He has also held positions as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Mozart Players.

He works regularly with many of the world’s leading symphony orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, and the NDR in Hamburg, and, in the UK, enjoys close associations with both the London Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Mark Elder has appeared annually at the Proms in London for many years, including, in 1987, the internationally televised Last Night of the Proms.

He works regularly in the most prominent international opera houses, including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Opéra National de Paris, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, and other guest engagements have taken him to the Bayreuth Festival (where he was the first English conductor to conduct a new production), Amsterdam, Geneva, Berlin, and Sydney.

During his years at ENO he brought international acclaim to the company for its work in London, as well as leading tours to the USA (including the Met in New York) and Russia (including the Bolshoi in Moscow and the Mariinsky in St Petersburg).

Mark Elder has made many recordings with orchestras including the Hallé, London Philharmonic, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, and the Rochester Philharmonic, as well as with English National Opera, in repertoire ranging from Verdi, Strauss and Wagner to contemporary music. In collaboration with the director Barrie Gavin, he made a two-part film on the life and music of Verdi for BBC TV in 1994, which was followed by a similar project on Donizetti for German television in 1996.

Mark Elder was awarded the CBE by the Queen in 1989, and won an Olivier Award in 1991 for his outstanding work at ENO.

Mark Elder est devenu directeur musical du Hallé en septembre 2000. Il a été fait Commandeaur de l’Ordre de l’Empire britannique par la reine en 1989 et a remporté un prix Olivier pour son remarquable travail à l’English National Opera, dont il a été le directeur musical entre 1979 et 1993. Il a été premier chef d’orchestre invité de l’Orchestre symphonique de la ville de Birmingham de 1992 à 1995, et directeur musical de l’Orchestre philharmonique de Rochester aux USA de 1989 à 1994. Il a également été premier chef d’orchestre invité de l’Orchestre symphonique de la BBC et des London Mozart Players. En plus de travailler avec des orchestres du monde entier, il est plus particulièrement associé au Philharmonique de Londres et à l’Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Il est fréquemment invité par le Royal Opera, le Metropolitan Opera de New York, l’Opéra National de Paris, le Lyric Opera de Chicago, le Festival d’opéra de Glyndebourne et le Bayerische Staatsoper de Munich. Il a également été invité au Festival de Bayreuth (où il a été le premier chef d’orchestre britannique à diriger une nouvelle production), à Amsterdam, à Berlin et à Sydney.

Mark Elder wurde im September 2000 zum Musikdirektor des Hallé berufen. 1989 verlieh ihm die britische Krone den Orden CBE und im selben Jahr wurde er für seine hervorragende Arbeit an der English National Opera, wo er von 1979 bis 1993 als Musikdirektor tätig war, mit dem Olivier Award ausgezeichnet. Er war von 1992 bis 1995 Erster Gastdirigent des City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra und von 1989 bis 1994 Musikdirektor des Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in den USA. Außerdem hat er als Erster Gastdirigent des BBC Symphony Orchestra und der London Mozart Players gewirkt. Neben seiner Arbeit mit Orchestern auf der ganzen Welt unterhält er enge Beziehungen sowohl zum London Philharmonic Orchestra als auch zum Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Er gastiert häufig an der Royal Opera, der Metropolitan Opera in New York, der Opéra National de Paris, der Lyric Opera of Chicago, der Glyndebourne Festival Opera und der Bayerischen Staatsoper in München.