German Conducting Appointment for Nicholas Milton

 Dr Nicholas Milton

Dr Nicholas Milton, Chief Conductor of the Willoughby Symphony has been appointed General Music Director and Chief Conductor of the State Theater of Saarland, Germany (Saarländischen Staatstheater) for four years from 2014. Dr Milton was selected to the position following an international search which attracted over 100 applicants. 

Dr Milton has been the conductor of the Willoughby Symphony since 2001 and Chief Conductor of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra since 2007.  Overseas, he has conducted the Dortmund Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Radio Philharmonie Hannover, SWR Radio Symphony Stuttgart, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the orchestras of Wiesbaden, Mannheim, Darmstadt, Nice, Odense, Ljubljana (RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra) and Beijing (China National Symphony Orchestra).

Dr Milton maintains his association with the Willoughby Symphony, and returns for concerts on the North Shore between his European engagements. Originally a violinist, Nicholas Milton was Concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra from 1996 to 2002 and violinist with Macquarie Trio from 1998 – 2005. He studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Michigan State University, the Mannes College of Music and the Juilliard School. He holds Master’s degrees in Violin, Conducting, Music Theory and Philosophy, and a Doctoral degree in Music from the City University of New York. Mentored at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki by Jorma Panula, he won the 1999 Symphony Australia Conductor of the Year Competition and was a prizewinner in the Lovro von Matačić International Competition of Young Conductors. In 2001 Dr Milton was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal for Service to Australian Society and the Advancement of Music.