INTERVIEW: NUNO COELHO
Nuno Coelho The 2017 Cadaqués winner talks to Charlotte Gardner about collaborating with the Gulbenkian Orchestra and LA Phil, his repertoire loves, and how he fell for conducting There can't be a better way to begin than by talking about the huge life change that winning the Cadaqués Conducting Competition in December 2017 has been, with its prize of engagements with 40 orchestras. What an opportunity! Yes! My teacher at the Zurich University of the Arts, Johannes Schaefli, always used to say that winning a competition doesn't make you a better conductor, but it does
10 The Green Room Winter 2018
give you the opportunities to become better. These opportunities began in August with Pierrot Lunaire at the Stresa Festival, and continue this month with the BBC Philharmonic. In fact, the diary is pretty much full for the next two seasons, and includes debuts with Orchestre National de Lille, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Beethoven Orchestra Bonn. So a lot of concerts, a lot of thinking about the music I feel strongly about, and which orchestras I want to do certain
repertoire with. Also, what I want to do now, what do I want to do in five years, and how to get there – a year ago I wasn't thinking about these things! So what are your repertoire loves? I studied violin in Austria, and conducting in Switzerland, so I feel very close to the Austro-German classical period, which of course doesn't need too much strategising when it comes to programming.
All photos © Elmer de Haas
