Bio

In a versatile career, Robert Ziegler engages audiences from across the musical spectrum through his stimulating and imaginative performances. 

The award-winning conductor leads orchestras around the globe and records with all the major record labels. He is equally in demand in concert halls for top performers in classical music and legendary pop and jazz artists. He has a long list of successful recordings for film and television. 

A former prize winner in the Fitelberg Conducting Competition, Ziegler has directed orchestras including London Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra,  Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Dublin’s RTE Concert and Symphony Orchestras, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. International guest conducting includes the Gulbenkian Orchestra, l’Orchestre Nationale d’Ile de France, Japan Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony and Philharmonic orchestras, San Francisco Symphony, New Zealand Symphony and Adelaide Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Spain’s Orchestra of the Asturias and the Orchestre Nationale de Lyon. 

He has recently conducted recording sessions for Sony Classics and Deutsche Grammophon with the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and a collection of music from the complete Star Wars Saga with the Slovakian National Philharmonic. Ziegler led a sold out tour of Holst’s The Planets HD with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

He conducted the premieres of live musical accompaniment to films including Jerry Goldsmith’s pioneering score for Planet of the Apes, Bernard Herrmann’s final film score for Martin Scorsese’s iconic Taxi Driver. He’s performed the score for Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony, Japan Philharmonic, Philharmonia and the London Philharmonic. He has conducted many concerts of the music of John Williams with the Royal Philharmonic including his 80th and 90th birthday gala concerts at the Royal Albert Hall.

Ziegler’s extensive work in film includes recording original soundtracks by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood, Inherent Vice), Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit), and Alberto Iglesias, Max Richter, Shigeru Umebayashi, Lorne Balfe, Michael Giacchino, Mark Isham and Alf Clausen for The Simpsons. He is also the recipient of the Royal Television Society award for music programmes on Television. He has recently conducted the music by Yupeng Chen for Genshin Impact the internationally successful computer game (60 million live users) with the London Symphony Orchestra. 

Recordings include for Deutsche Grammophon:  The Disney Book  with pianist Lang Lang, Pete Townshend’s Classic Quadrophenia, both with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Max Richter’s ballet Woolf Works. He also has recorded with Ludovico Einaudi - Divenire with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (Decca/Universal) , songwriting legend Randy Newman’s  Live in London DVD/CD with BBC Concert Orchestra (Nonesuch) , On an Island and Rattle That Lock(Parlophone which received a Gold Record for sales in the UK) DVDs/CDs for Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and Stewart Copeland’s Orchestralli. Ziegler has recorded the last two releases of the cellist Hauser for Sony Classics. Other recordings include “From the Salon of the Princesse du Polignac”: chamber theatre works of Falla, Stravinsky and Milhaud and two CDs for Decca/Universal: Berlin Cabaret Songs and But One Day with chanteuse Ute Lemper. 

Pop collaborations include with Deborah Harry, Lionel Richie, Stewart Copeland, k.d. lang, Radiohead, Donny Osmond, Richard Ashcroft (The Verve), Ben Folds, and jazz legend Wayne Shorter. He’s collaborated with diverse composers including Max Richter, Jonathan Lloyd, Joby Talbot, Mark Turnage, Rabih Abou Khalil, Mike Westbrook and conducted a wide range of 20th/21st century music. 2022/23

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