"Otto Tausk was able to show his musical instinct, his ability and energy [...] He was capable of creating an artwork by combining all the string players, the wind section, the drums and the pianos to a permanently rebuilding flow, of which very characteristic solos stood out" Freie Presse, June 2010
Be it Shostakovich, or a new score of, for example fellow native Dutch composer Michel van der Aa, the chemistry, skill and dynamism with which Otto Tausk leads an ensemble, whether a Symphony orchestra or chamber ensemble, is an inspired musical experience. His attention to the score and the energy and enthusiasm with which he conveys this with his musicians is utterly infectious.
Otto Tausk is Principal Conductor of Holland Symfonia and starting from the 12/13 season the new music director of the Orchestra and Opera Theatre of Sankt Gallen, where alongside the symphonic programmes, he will also lead two major opera productions each season.
Firmly established in his native Holland, Tausk seasonally conducts many of its principal orchestras such as the Residentie Orchestra, the Radio Orchestras, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic. Further afield Tausk has been invited by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, opening their 2011 Green Umbrella series with a world premiere by Georg Friedrich Haas. He also works with the symphony orchestras of Tasmania, Perth, Adelaide, Auckland, Bremen, Dortmund, Halle, Rheinland Pfalz, BBC Scottish, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Moscow and deFilharmonie in Antwerp. He collaborates with soloists such as Renaud Capuçon, James Ehnes, Daniel Hope, Alban Gerhardt, Lilli Paasikivi, Tanja Tetzlaff, Albrecht Mayer and Sol Gabetta.
In the opera and oratorio field 2010 saw Tausk at London’s Barbican Centre and Lyon Opera conducting revivals of Michel van der Aa’s opera “After Life” with the Asko Ensemble, following the success of the world premiere under Tausk’s direction at the Holland Festival. In the famous matinee series of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam he conducted operas by Rudolf Escher and Richard Strauss.
Otto Tausk works regularly with leading contemporary ensembles including the Musik Fabrik and the Asko-Schoenberg Ensemble. Between 2004 and 2006 he was assistant conductor to Valery Gergiev with the Rotterdam Philharmonic. Aside from Gergiev’s mentorship Tausk was invited subsequently to work with the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, as well as the Rotterdam Philharmonic.
Otto Tausk, born in Utrecht won various prizes as a young violinist and as a conductor. He studied violin with Viktor Liberman and Istvan Parkanyi as well as orchestral conducting with Jurjen Hempel and Kenneth Montgomery. He continued his studies with Lithuanian conductor and professor Jonas Aleksa at the Vilnius Conservatoire, a period of study that had a profound impact on him.
2011 saw the release of Hans Pfitzner's enchanting Orchesterlieder with Otto Tausk conducting the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, gaining considerable international praise, not the least Classica France's "Choice du mois".