Biography

Philippe Bach was born in Switzerland in 1974. He initially studied horn at the Bern Conservatory and the Conservatoire de Genève, before beginning conducting studies at the Zurich Conservatory with Prof. Johannes Schlaefli and continuing at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Sir Mark Elder. He won numerous awards, including first prizes at the Swiss Conducting Competition (1996) and the International Jesús López Cobos Opera Conducting Competition (2006). From 2006 to 2008 he was Assistant Conductor at the Teatro Real in Madrid and assistant to Jesús López Cobos. In June 2007 he made his debut at the Teatro Real with MADAMA BUTTERFLY. His debut at the Hamburg State Opera followed in December 2008. From 2008 to 2010 Philippe Bach was First Kapellmeister and Deputy GMD at the Theater Lübeck and from 2010-2022 he was General Music Director of the Meininger Hofkapelle. Since 2012 he has been Chief Conductor of the Bern Chamber Orchestra and since 2016 Chief Conductor of the Kammerphilharmonie Graubünden.

As a guest Philippe Bach has conducted concerts with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, , the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne, the Basler Sinfonieorchester, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, the RTE National Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the Brandenburg State Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, the Basel Sinfonietta and the Bern Symphony Orchestra. CD recordings for the BIS, Claves, Naxos and Telos labels complement his extensive artistic activity.