David Zinman’s career has been distinguished by his programming of a broad repertoire, his strong commitment to the performance of contemporary music, and his introduction of historically informed performance practice. He is in his 18th season as music director of Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra. He has conducted all of the leading North American orchestras, including the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, The Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, as well as the New York Philharmonic. In Europe he performs with the Berlin Philharmonic, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He also has relationships with Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw, Vienna Symphony, London Philharmonic, and Philharmonia orchestras, as well as Orchestre de Paris, and Orchestre National de France. His most recent opera performance was a production of Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann at Geneva Opera in March 2010, which was revived in December 2011.

Mr. Zinman’s extensive discography of more than 100 recordings has earned him numerous international honors, including five Grammy awards, two Grand Prix du Disque, two Edison Prizes, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, and a Gramophone Award. He was also the 1997 recipient of the Ditson Award from Columbia University in recognition of his commitment to the performance of works by American composers. David Zinman and Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra recently completed highly acclaimed Schubert, Brahms, and Mahler cycles (with the Mahler Symphony No. 8 disc receiving a 2011 ECHO Award). They have also recorded the Schumann symphonies and Strauss orchestral works, as well as a Beethoven cycle, which sold over one million copies.

David Zinman studied conducting with Pierre Monteux, and made his first major conducting debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1967. Previous positions include music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and principal conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. He was also music director of the Aspen Music Festival and School, and the American Academy of Conducting.

In 2000 the French Ministry of Culture awarded Mr. Zinman the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in October 2002 he received the City of Zurich Art Prize for his outstanding artistic efforts, making him the first conductor and the first non-Swiss recipient of this award. He last appeared with the New York Philharmonic in March 2012 to preside over The Modern Beethoven: A Philharmonic Festival.

Pianist Jan Lisiecki, age 17, was born in Calgary to Polish parents. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Philharmonic Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Centre, and Paris’s Salle Cortot and has shared the stage with Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, and Pinchas Zukerman. He received the 2010 Révélations Radio-Canada Musique and Jeune Soliste des Radios Francophones awards, and he records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon, who signed him when he was 15.

Performance highlights for his 2011–12 season included the opening of the Orchestre de Paris under Paavo Järvi at Salle Pleyel and debuts with the BBC Symphony at the Barbican in London and the Leipzig Radio Symphony at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Mr. Lisiecki appeared with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Peter Oundjia, Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Antonio Pappano. In the 2012–13 season Mr. Lisiecki tours with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, makes his Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra debut under Jakub Hrusa at Suntory Hall, and in May 2013 tours with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, with stops including Innsbruck, Vienna, and Berlin.

Also a dedicated chamber musician, Jan Lisiecki has collaborated with the New Zealand String Quartet, Quatuor Ébène, and the Penderecki String Quartet. He was featured in the CBC Next! series as one of the most promising young artists in Canada and was the subject of a 2009 CBC National News documentary titled The Reluctant Prodigy. In June 2008 he was appointed a National Youth Representative by UNICEF Canada. Having graduated from high school in Calgary in January 2011, Jan Lisiecki is studying for a bachelor’s of music degree at the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto on a full scholarship.