Michel Tabachnik

Michel Tabachnik (born 10 November 1942) is a Swiss conductor and composer.
Early years.
Tabachnik was born in Geneva, where he studied piano, composition and conducting. As a young conductor he was a protégé of Igor Markevitch, Herbert von Karajan and Pierre Boulez, acting as the latter's assistant for four years, mainly with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London. This led him to become closely involved with conducting and to perform many world premieres, particularly those of Iannis Xenakis.
Career.
International.
He has held the position of Chief Conductor of the Gulbenkian Foundation Orchestra in Lisbon, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Lorraine and the Ensemble InterContemporain in Paris. His roster of orchestras includes the Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, Tokyo NHK, Orchestre de Paris and festivals such as Lucerne, Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence.
In the operatic field Tabachnik has conducted in the opera houses of Paris, Geneva, Zürich, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Rome and Montreal. He has been a regular guest with the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, where he led, among other works, "Lohengrin", "Madama Butterfly", "Carmen" and "The Rake's Progress".
Pedagogue.
Tabachnik works with several youth orchestras. He was Artistic Director of l'Orchestre des Jeunes du Québec (1985–1989) and, over a twelve-year period, l'Orchestre des Jeunes de la Méditerranée, which he founded in 1984.
He is also a pedagogue. In addition to leading Master Classes in Amsterdam (NOS), Lisbon (the Gulbenkian Foundation), Paris Conservatoire, Stockholm Conservatory, and others, he has also held the position of Professor of Conducting at both the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto (1984–1991), and the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen (1993–2001).
Composer.
In addition to his work as a conductor, Tabachnik is also a composer. He has been honored with many commissions including ""La Légende de Haïsha" for the anniversary of the Bicentenary of the French Revolution, "Le Cri de Mohim" for the 700th Year of Switzerland, and "Le Pacte des Onze"" for I.R.C.A.M. Paris.
Tabachnik records for Erato and Lyrinx, with whom he has been associated since 1991. His discography includes Beethoven, Wagner, Honegger and Iannis Xenakis. His recording of the Schumann Piano Concerto (with Catherine Collard as soloist) was voted Best Performance of the work by the international jury at the Radio Suisse Romande.
In 1995, Tabachnik was named Artist of the Year by the Italian "Centro Internazionale di Arte e Cultura" in Rome.
Order of the Solar Temple.
Tabachnik was a leader in the infamous doomsday cult Order of the Solar Temple, notorious for a series of murders and mass suicides of its members (including Tabachnik's first wife), between 1994 and 1997. In 2001 and 2006, Tabachnik was accused of contributing to their deaths but was eventually acquitted on all charges.
Later career.
Since September 2005, Tabachnik is chief-conductor of the Noord Nederlands Orkest (NNO).
In 2008, Tabachnik became the new music director and chief-conductor of the Brussels Philharmonic.
Compositions.
He has been invited to perform with orchestras such as: