The outstanding success of Les Troyens has been followed by further large-scale Berlioz recording projects and special events.  Amongst these – La Damnation de Faust (2019), Harold en Italie & Nuits d’Eté (2021), and Roméo et Juliette (2022), again partnered by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg.  To mark the 150^th anniversary of Berlioz’s death, Nelson led a performance of Berlioz’s Requiem (2019) – in London’s iconic St. Paul’s Cathedral – broadcast by Medici.tv, and performed/recorded with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, which was described by The Telegraph as “a brilliant recording of one of the greatest pieces ever written”.

Recent and upcoming highlights include engagements with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National d’Auvergne, Orchestre National de Cannes, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Orchestra, alongside the release of two major recording projects: Handel’s Messiah (The English Concert), and Mozart’s Requiem (Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne).

Over a career spanning some five decades, Nelson has conducted the world’s leading orchestras and ensembles.  In North America, this includes the orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Montréal, and Toronto.  In Europe, he has enjoyed working with such ensembles as the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Czech Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Gewandhaus Leipzig, London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Madrid Symphony RTVE, Orchestre de Paris, Oslo Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, and the Royal Philharmonc Orchestra.  Across Asia, Nelson has worked regularly at the top level, with the likes of China Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, New Japan Philharmonic, and the orchestras of Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou.

John Nelson studied at the Juilliard School in New York, where he received the Irving Berlin Conducting Prize.  Over the course of his career, he has served as Music Director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Theater of St. Louis, the Caramoor Music Festival in New York and the Orchestre de chambre de Paris.  In addition, Nelson has held the positions of Principal Guest Conductor of the National Orchestra of Lyon, Artistic Advisor of the orchestras of Nashville and Louisville, and he is presently the Principal Guest Conductor of the National Orchestra of Costa Rica – the country in which he was born to American missionary parents.

Nelson is a champion of operatic repertoire, and has conducted in the world’s greatest opera houses – from the Metropolitan Opera and Chicago Lyric Theatre, to the Opéra Bastille de Paris, Grand Théatre de Genève, the Dutch National Opera, and the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.  He is also recognised as a great interpreter of the sacred music repertoire: in 1994 co-founding SOLI DEO GLORIA – an organization based in Chicago that commissions works of sacred music from the world’s foremost composers, such as Christopher Rouse, James MacMillan and Roxanna Panufnik.

Nelson’s distinguished discography further includes Händel’s Semele (Grammy Award), Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict (Diapason d’Or), and highly acclaimed DVDs of Bach’s B minor Mass and St. Matthew Passion, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. He also recorded the complete Beethoven Symphonies and Piano Concertos with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris.