Daniel Harding
Comparing his year of birth (1975) with his decades of experience conducting some of Europe's finest orchestras – twenty years with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, fifteen with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and another ten years as principal guest conductor of the London Symphony – it seems that the calculations somehow don't fit. Yet this all applies to Daniel Harding's astonishing career. When he was only 18, he was suddenly called in by Simon Rattle – who had heard him conduct Schönberg on a recording – as an assistant for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. A year later, Claudio Abbado wanted him at his side with the Berliner Philharmoniker, and Harding debuted as the youngest conductor in history at the famous London Proms. What followed was a whirlwind of debuts and collaborations with the world's leading orchestras and artists, eager to work with the boy Abbado liked to call “my genius”.

At a more mature age, Daniel Harding had collected so many experiences that he felt the need to slow down, to let knowledge settle and new perspectives emerge. But instead of taking a rest, he decided to devote himself to a passion that he had not been able to nurture until then, owing to his many commitments: flying.

“I wanted to give myself the greatest gift, which is learning something new and taking on a new challenge; it's perfect for freeing the brain,” he said in an interview.

He now spends 26 weeks a year as an airline pilot for Air France and as many on the rostrum. “Both activities are challenging and wonderful. They require teamwork, communication skills, awareness, rigour, adaptability, humility and imagination. [...] The goals and risks are different, but I have improved in both jobs thanks to each of them. The wonderful thing I learnt from flying is how great it is to take risks in making music because that is where we find the real beauty, and above all, nothing terrible can happen!”. At LuganoMusica, we'll find him on stage with one of the best international orchestras. The evening promises sparkles.