Peter Szilvay

INTRODUCTION

Peter Szilvay is one of Norway’s most successful conductors. Ever since his debut with KORK in 1996, when he took the orchestra and the audience by storm, he has had an ever-growing career.

RECENT AND FUTURE HIGHLIGHTS

Among his engagements in the 2022/2023 season were concerts with the Arctic Philharmonic, Verdi’s Requiem with KORK, Silvestrov’s Symphony No. 7 with the Oslo Philharmonic, Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman at Opera Østfold, and recordings with both the Oslo Philharmonic orchestra and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. In February 2023, he also conducted a breathtaking performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 in his arrangement at the cathedral of Trondheim.

Peter Szilvay’s most recent and future engagements include (among others): concerts w. Malmø Symphony Orchestra and the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra a Byström, Britten & Brahms concert with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra; Kverndokk’s Klovnen (The Clown) w. the Arctic Philharmonic; various concerts and competitions with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Sjøforsvarets Musikkorps, Luftforsvarets Musikkorps (Hugo Alvén’s Bergakungen) and a Wolfgang Plagge’s tuba concerto with Kongelige Norske Marines Musikkorps.  Szilvay visited all the major orchestras and ensembles in Norway throughout the season 23/24.

In the season 2024/2025, Szilvay will conduct Kálmán’s Die Csárdásfürstin at the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, conduct the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra in a concert (Grieg, Kleiberg), conduct a Christmas concert w. the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, lead a New Year’s concert w. Hærens Musikkorps (Harstad), and conduct concerts with Stabsmusikken / Dirigentløftet, a.o.

His further future engagements include a concert w. the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.

BIOGRAPHY

Peter Szilvay began his career as a violist. He spent three years with the Oslo Philharmonic, where he met Mariss Jansons, for whom he served as an assistant conductor for three years. Years as a musician were quickly supplanted by constant demands to conduct. This was followed by a position as assistant conductor in the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra until Szilvay took over as conductor on his own.

Szilvay has conducted orchestras and opera in Norway and abroad. In his home country, he has led the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, The Norwegian Opera, The Norwegian Radio Orchestra (KORK) and all the military wind-bands.

He has also worked with the sinfoniettas of Oslo, Trondheim, BIT20 Bergen, as well as the Arctic Sinfonietta and the Bodø Sinfonietta. Szilvay has conducted productions at the Norwegian Opera Ballet and Opera South.

Internationally, he has conducted the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra in Russia, the Gothenburg, Helsingborg, Umeå, and Malmø symphony orchestras in Sweden, the radio orchestra in Paris, the Royal Danish Orchestra, and at the opera in Würzburg, Germany.

Early in his career, he made an impressive contribution to contemporary music and performed more than 150 original works with the best ensembles at home and abroad. However, his interest in classical and romantic music has grown steadily. Szilvay is passionate about working with singers and puts the art of opera high on his priority list.

Szilvay is a distinguished communicator, and his pretalks at performances set the mood for the crowd. Contact with the public, in Szilvay’s opinion, is one of the most crucial things we can give priority to. It is impossible to stress the importance of attracting audiences and sharing our amazing cultural legacy.