Bio

First Prize winner and Special Prize of the Orchestra at the 8th International Jorma Panula Conducting Competition, Nathanaël Iselin is a young French conductor currently based in Scandinavia and the Netherlands. He is the Conductor-in-Residence of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

Nathanaël started his career as assistant conductor of the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, the first person to hold that position in Denmark. Shortly thereafter he won the prestigious Jorma Panula Competition in Finland. He was then appointed Conductor in Residence of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of the past season include conducting the Danish National Radio Orchestra, and the orchestras of Odense, Aalborg, Sønderjylland, Lahti, Vaasa, Jyväskylä, Iceland and Picardie, in pieces such as Bruckner 3rd symphony, Dvořák 8th, Beethoven 8th… Back in 2019 he conducted the Copenhagen Philharmonic in a performance for Her Majesty the Queen of Denmark.

On various other occasions Nathanaël had the chance to conduct such orchestras as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the Singapore Symphony, the Finnish Radio, Helsinki Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Montpellier, Philharmonie Konstanz.

On the lyrical scene, Nathanaël regularly conducts at Opera Hedeland, Denmark, where he led fully-staged youth audience productions of Carmen and Rigoletto. He recently recorded Peter Heise’s opera Drot og Marsk. He will return in 2023 to conduct the main production of La Cenerentola. He also worked at the Bern Opera, Switzerland, as a second conductor and assistant for a production of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride.

Nathanaël Iselin has studied orchestra conducting in four of the most prestigious music universities in Europe : the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, the Hochschule der Künste in Zürich and the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. Whilst a student he has been mentored by such renowned conductors as Iván Fischer, Mariss Jansons, Fabio Luisi, Susanna Mälkki, Sakari Oramo, Michael Schønwandt, Giordano Bellincampi, Johannes Schlaefli, Thomas Søndergård, Alexander Vedernikov, Simone Young and Jaap van Zweden.

His studies at the Paris Conservatoire have given him both a love of and an insight into the music of French impressionism such as Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune and Ravel’s La Valse. He has lived in Switzerland, Denmark, France, Iceland, the Netherlands and Finland, taking the chance to deepen his love for Finnish music – Sibelius and Rautavaara in particular.

As a percussionist, he has performed with the Ensemble Intercontemporain-CNSMDP, the Limoges Opera, the Nouvelle Europe Orchestra, led by conductors such as David Zinman, Dennis Russell Davies and Matthias Pintscher.

Version française (PDF)

 

 

Repertoire List

Symphonic

J. Adams The Chairman Dances
Lollapalooza
J.S. Bach Brandenburg Concerto No.3
Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor
Bartók Concerto for orchestra
Romanian Folk Dances for orchestra
Beethoven Symphony 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Egmont Overture
Coriolan Overture
Prometheus
Violin Concerto
Violin Romanze 1 & 2
Piano Concerto 3, 4, 5
Berg Lied der Lulu
Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique
Roman Carnival Overture
Bizet L’Arlésienne, Suites 1 & 2
Borodin Polovtsian Dances
In the Steppes of Central Asia
Bottesini Double-bass Concerto No.2
Boulez Messagesquisse
Brahms Symphony 1, 2, 3, 4
Violin Concerto
Akademische Festouvertüre
Variations on a Theme by Haydn
Hungarian Dances
Britten Simple Symphony
Bruckner Symphony 3
J. Bull In Nomine a 5
S.-E. Bäck Decet
Chaminade Flute Concertino
Copland Clarinet Concerto
Debussy La Mer
Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
Delibes Pizzicato
Donizetti English Horn Concertino
Dukas L’Apprenti Sorcier
Dvořák Symphony 7, 8, 9
Cello Concerto
Slavonic Dances
Serenade for Strings, Op.22
Elgar Enigma Variations
Enescu Chamber Symphony
Romanian Rhapsody 1
Fauré Pavane for orchestra
Falla The Three-Cornered Hat, Suite 2
J. Gade Tango Jalousie
N. Gade Echoes of Ossian, Overture
Gluck Alceste, Overture
Gounod Faust, Overture
Grieg Piano Concerto
Peer Gynt, Suites 1 & 2
Holberg Suite
Våren
Haendel Concerto Grosso HWV 322
J. Haydn Symphony 83, 85, 96, 101, 102, 104
L’isola disabitata Overture
Il Terremoto
G. Helsted Decet
Hummel Trumpet Concerto in Eb
Ibert Divertissement
Janáček Lachian Dances
W. Kilar Orawa
Kodály Dances of Galánta
Ligeti Kammerkonzert
M. Lindberg Corrente
Lutoslawski Symphony 3
Mahler Symphony 1, 4, 5
Mendelssohn Symphony 3, 4
Violin Concerto
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Hebrides Overture
Moussorgsky Pictures at an exhibition
Mozart Symphony 29, 31, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41
Piano Concerto 23
Clarinet Concerto
Oboe Concerto
Requiem
Don Giovanni Overture
Le Nozze di Figaro Overture
Die Zauberflöte Overture
La Clemenza di Tito Overture
Sinfonia Concertante for four winds
Serenade in C moll KV 388
Divertimento KV 136
Divertimento KV 138
Nielsen Symphony 4
Clarinet Concerto
Maskarade Overture
Aladdin Suite
Offenbach Barcarolle
Purcell Dido and Aeneas, Ah, belinda
When I am laid in Earth
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet, Suite 2
Classical Symphony
Peter and the Wolf
Piano Concerto 1, 2
Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances
The Rock
Piano Concerto 2
Prelude Op. 23, No. 5 (orch. Iselin)
Rautavaara Hommage à Liszt Ferrenc
Ravel La Valse
Daphnis et Chloé, Suite 2
Ma Mère l’Oye
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Pavane pour une infante défunte
Gaspard de la Nuit (orch. Constant)
Piano Concerto in G major
Sheherazade, La Flûte Enchantée
L’heure espagnole, Oh, la pitoyable aventure
Reinecke Flute Concerto
Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade
Rossini Il barbiere di Siviglia, Overture
La scala di seta, Overture
Saint-Saëns Symphony 3
Cello Concerto 1, op33
Violin Concerto 3, op61
Danse Macabre
Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso
Sarasate Zigeunerweisen
Schubert Symphony 1
Symphony 8, unfinished
Schumann Symphony 3, 4
Piano Concerto
Cello Concerto
Overture, Scherzo and Finale, op52
Schönberg Kammersymphonie No.1, op9
Shostakovich Symphony 5, 9
Chamber Symphony op.110a
Piano Concerto 2
Cello Concerto 1
Sibelius Symphony 1, 2, 3, 5, 7
Violin Concerto
Pelleas and Mélisande
Tapiola
Valse Triste
Luonnotar
Finlandia
N. Skalkottas Five Greek Dances
Smetana Doktor Faust Overture
E. Smyth Concerto for Violin and Horn
R. Strauss Don Juan
Der Rosenkavalier Suite
Four Last Songs
Ariadne auf Naxos, Grossmächtige Prinzessin
J. Strauss Radetzky March
J. Strauss II Die Fledermaus, Overture
Pizzicato Polka
Stravinsky The Rite of Spring
The Firebird
Petrushka
Pulcinella Suite
A Soldier’s Tale
Renard
Dumbarton Oaks
Concertino for 12 instruments
Octet
Symphonies of Wind instruments
F.v. Suppé Light Cavalry Overture
Tchaikovsky Symphony 1, 4, 5, 6
Violin Concerto
Piano Concerto 1
Rococo Variations for Cello
Swan Lake Suite
Nutcracker Suite
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending
Songs of Travel
Verdi La forza del destino, Overture
La Traviata, Overture
Vivaldi The Four Seasons
Sinfonia RV 169
Wagner Tristan und Isolde, Vorspiel und Liebestod
Lohengrin, Vorspiel
Lohengrin, Akt 3 Vorspiel
Tannhäuser, Vorspiel
O, du mein holder Abendstern
Siegfried Idyll
Walton Viola Concerto
Weber Clarinet Concertino, op.26
J. Williams Star Wars Overture
D. Wirén Serenade
F. Zappa Dog breath, Uncle Meat

 

Opera

Bizet Carmen
Heise Drot og Marsk
S. Landi La morte d’Orfeo
Mozart Don Giovanni *
Le Nozze di Figaro *
Puccini La Bohème *
Ravel L’enfant et les sortilèges *
Rossini La Cenerentola *
Smetana The Bartered Bride
Stravinsky Renard
Verdi Aida
Rigoletto

* in preparation

 

Contemporary

S. Beamish Variations on a Theme of Benjamin Britten (2013)
D. Bjarnason Bow to string (2010)
R. Corbisier Une guerre aveugle (2015 – world premiere)
M. Goulet Beach Ball (2017)
Symphonic Chocolates (2012)
Citius Altius Fortius (2008)
B. Gísladóttir Hringla (2022)
Flashes from the various east (2017)
Vape (2016)
P. Graham A Portrait of Paris (2013)
S. Gubaidulina Sieben Worte (1982)
Glorious Percussion (2008)
B. Gunge Uden titel (2001)
G.F. Haas Was mir Beethoven erzählt (2020)
F. Karlsson Happy, happy hell in that they (2017)
G. Kristinsson Flekar (2021)
J. Linkola Scorpio (2021)
A.G. Madsen Träume nicht (2021 – world premiere)
Á. Másson Capriccio (2015)
K. Ólafsson Mar (2020)
N. Pantsulaia Hydra (2018)
M. Ratkje Paragraf 112 (2014)
Concerto for voice (2015)
A. Schnelzer A Freak in Burbank (2009)
P. Sejlund Bubbles (2010)
R. Šerkšnytė Fires (2010)
C. Shaw Entr’acte (2011)
I.Skarphéðinsdóttir Pons papilloma (2021)
M. Skoryk Melody
N. Stookey The composer is dead! (2009)
A. Tarrodi Paradisfåglar II (2013)
H. Tómasson It relaxes me, the repetition (2018)
V. Vaka Gemæltan (2020)
F. Waksman Protonic Games (2012)
Shuai Zhang Concerto for Di (2019)
R. Zwicki 123456789 (2021 – world premiere)
A. Þorvaldsdóttir Archora (2022)
Cathamorphosis (2020)
Metacosmos (2017)