Yan Pascal Tortelier is a French conductor respected for his interpretations of French composers from the romantic and modern eras. With the Ulster Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic, he has recorded the complete orchestral works of Debussy, Ravel, Roussel, and Dutilleux. He was born in Paris in 1947 and is the son of the famous cellist Paul Tortelier. He began studying the piano and violin when he was four years old, and instead of receiving a formal education, he spent his childhood learning music. Later he studied with Nadia Boulanger and Henri Challan at the Paris Conservatoire, and at the age of 14, he won first prize for violin. Also in 1962, he made his debut as a soloist in London in a performance of Brahms’ Double Concerto, and he became a member of the Paris Opera Orchestra. Tortelier started studying conducting with Franco Ferrara in Siena in 1973, and he was appointed leader of the Toulouse Capitole Orchestra the following year. He gradually stopped performing as a violinist, and in 1978 he made his operatic conducting debut in Toulouse. He also started accepting guest conductor appointments in North America, East Asia, and England. In 1983 he left his position in Toulouse and worked as a traveling guest conductor through the '80s. He made his U.S. debut with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in 1985, and from 1989 to 1992 he was principal conductor and artistic director of the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast. This was followed by ten years as principal conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, where he conducted the 1993 premiere of A Vision and a Journey by David Matthews. Tortelier led the ensemble on a very successful tour of the U.S. in 1995 to celebrate the anniversary of its 60th season. After the 2003 season ended, he stepped down as principal conduct and was given the title of conductor emeritus. Later, he held appointments with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 2005 to 2008, the Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de São Paulo from 2009 to 2013, and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra from 2016 to 2019. In 2022 he collaborated with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet on a recording of the works of Pierre Sancan for the 2023 release Sancan: A Musical Tribute. ~ RJ Lambert, Rovi