Born 1959 in São Paulo, Brazil, Celso Antunes studied conducting at the Musikhochschule Köln in Germany. From 1994 until 1998 he was Chief Conductor of the Neues Rheinisches Kammerorchester in Cologne and of the Belgian ensemble for contemporary music Champ d'Action (1994 – 1997), with whom he directed numerous world premieres. As Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the National Chamber Choir of Ireland, his influence on its development from 2002 onward was exceptional. In 2007 the Irish Times regretted his departure with the words: …this period will have to be seen in the future as a golden age for professional choral singing in Ireland.

Flexibility is the key to Celso Antunes’ conducting expertise across a wide repertoire which covers choral music from the Renaissance, through orchestral works from the 18th and 19th century and contemporary music, of which he is a devoted advocate. This advocacy has led to engagements to direct numerous renowned contemporary music ensembles such as the Nieuw Ensemble, the Ensemble Modern and the Tippett Ensemble (of which he remains Music Director). He has conducted many world premieres including works by Michael Tippett, Wolfgang Rihm, Jonathan Harvey, Hans Zender, Brice Pauset and Lera Auerbach.

Celso Antunes is regularly invited as a guest conductor by leading orchestras, such as the Netherlands Radio Filharmonisch Orkest and the Netherlands Radio Kamer Filharmonie, the NDR Radio Philharmonic Hanover, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland Pfalz, the RSO Stuttgart, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Ulster Orchestra and Manchester Camerata.

For many years Celso Antunes has been an active figure on the European concert scene. Festival engagements have included: the Salzburger Festspiele, Berliner Festspiele, Donaueschinger Musiktage, the Flanders Festival, Musikbiennale München, Rheingau Festival, Rheinvokal Festival, City of London Festival and November Music in s'Hertogenbosch. Antunes regularly works with some of Europe’s leading choirs, including: the SWR Stuttgart Vocal Ensemble, the BBC Singers in London and the Vlaamse Radio Koor in Brussels. Among the conductors with whom he has collaborated are prominent artists such as Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Janssons, Charles Dutoit, Peter Eötvös, Marin Alsop and Sylvain Cambreling.

In 2010 Antunes recorded a CD (nominated for a GRAMMY Award) for Hänssler Klassik, featuring works by Joaquin Turina, with the NDR Radio Philharmonic Hannover. He also recorded a CD on the BIS label, ‘Sun Dogs’ by James MacMillan, with the Netherlands Radio Choir. In 2011 Antunes record works by Xavier Montsalvatge, with the NDR Radio Philharmonic Hannover for the Peer Music Classical Label and a CD of works by Richard Rijnvos, featuring both the Netherlands Radio Filharmonisch Orkest and the Netherlands Radio Kamer Filharmonie.

The conductor Celso Antunes had a dynamic thrust that was at times simply dramatic, his command of the orchestra and chorus was absolutely first-rate!

Igor Strawinsky: Symphony of Psalms
Concertgebouw Orkest, Cond. Zubin Mehta
Netherlands Radio Choir, Cond. Celso Antunes
On his second performance with the Concertgebouw Orchestra as guest conductor, 72 year-old maestro Metha generated subtle psalms, accurately shaped [Groet Omroepkoor, Cond. Celso Antunes]. Under his direction, Strawinskis score sounded noble and the performance resembled a spiritual experience.

Also with the Psalm symphony, Metha let music speak entirely for itself: Especially in the last part, when the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the sublime singing Groet Omroepkoor (Cond. Celso Antunes) seemed to melt in heavenly spheres, they created moments of unknown magic.

Hommage to Cathy Berberian, Robert-Schumann-Saal Düsseldorf
The "Tippett Ensemble", eleven excellent instrumentalists who were conducted with precision by Celso Antunes, who is especially committed to contemporary music - presented a crossover-programme that was worthy of Berberian.

ABOUT RAVELS "DAPHNIS ET CHLOÉ
(Philharmonie Berlin, April 08):
"Maurice Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloé" with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin at the Philharmonie was a great event… excellent: the Radio Choir Berlin under Celso Antunes…"

"This music sounds intense and vivid, subtle and never overloaded … Above all, because the Belgian Het Spectra Ensemble under Celso Antunes’ competent direction were remarkably able to delve deeply into this highly dramatic work…"

“Drama, drama and more drama was the order of the night on Friday as the Ulster Orchestra performed Verdi’s Requiem… Conductor Celso Antunes prepared us for fireworks and passion … by the close of the evening, the audience was left most assuredly with the hope that Antunes returns to conduct this or any other work he wants to, again and again. At the risk of using a made-up word, this was a conductorial tour de force: a big lengthy and complex work played with no interval, conducted with no score. Risky? Yes. Worth it? Yes. In the end, nothing could take away from the control and confidence of conductor Celso Antunes: his pacing was apt and calculated to give the big moments ample weight, even as the more introspective passages had room to breath and resonate.”

“Conductor Celso Antunes got the combined Belfast Philharmonic and Guinness Choirs off to a wonderfully atmospheric start in his Verdi Requiem with the Ulster Orchestra on Friday… it was good to hear so many of the work’s moments of tenderness and warmth conveyed with sensitivity. The care with which Antunes sculpted individual choral lines and ensured musically sound balances was commendable, as was his concern not to overpower the vocal soloists.“

"Under Celso Antunes’direction, all musicians, spread all over the church, could perform with absolute precision: the spatial sound effects were perfectly achieved…"

"The Adhoc Ensemble and the solo singers, all directed by Celso Antunes, collaborated in what was a highly polished and expressive performance…"

 
"Celso Antunes conducted from the middle of the church, where all instrumental groups were scattered, getting from the players the most sensitive nuances"

"…The Camerata Fukuda and its Chief Conductor, Celso Antunes, started their concert with an impetuous and energetic rendering of C.P.E. Bach’s string symphonies… Under Antunes’s delicate and exhuberant direction, both Elgar’s Serenade  and Grieg’s Holberg Suite sounded contagiously beautiful…"

"Brazilian conductor Celso Antunes knows how to get the most out of all dances, including Tangos and Mambos: This is sensational music making, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie plays for him with luxurious strings and with a lavish orchestral brass sound..."

"Antunes conducted during the fast three hours of the concert bouncing, curling and knuckling himself, letting his hands speak and extracting the most out of the players... He's certainly made an impact on the musicians, the audience could feel the joy in the playing. Antunes is an effervescent conductor, with a fine feeling for rhythms and long cantabile lines..."

"Antunes, appointed in 2002, transformed the choir from an honourably dull group that rarely lived up to its obvious potential into the most dynamic and forward-looking of performing ensembles that Ireland has ever known. His programming with the NCC has been unrivalled in its scope and daring, the choir regularly attracts the world's leading choral conductors for its concerts. […]The choir's five years under Antunes will be seen as a golden age for professional choral singing in Ireland."

"The Camerata Fukuda under Celso Antunes plays Mozart's "Divertimento in F major" and Shostakovitch's Chamber Symphony opus 110" with brilliant verve and great passion: an absolutely lively and stirring performance!"

"Celso Antunes has presented us with a moving new interpretation of Michael Tippett's oratorio A Child of our Time: with great accuracy, Antunes gets to the core of this emotionally highly charged music."

"Energy and dramatic tension: These are the words that come to one's mind when listening to Celso Antunes' performance of Beethoven's "Eroica" - a performance full of vitality and accuracy!"

"Celso Antunes proved again his masterly powers of evocation and passionate, direct presentation."

"Celso Antunes is one of those conductors who treats the most demanding of modern scores as a challenge to be met as painstakingly as a familiar classic. His Xenakis had that aura of fearlessness, of mastery of the almost but not quite impossible, which this composer's music needs...Antunes treated this music (Morales' Requiem) to a mesmerizing, sonorous, slow unfolding… As ever, Antunes's performances were notable for their fine observation of stylistic differences."

"The conductor Celso Antunes had a dynamic thrust that was at times simply dramatic, his command of the orchestra and chorus was absolutely first-rate!"

"Under the ‚Brazilian-Rheinländer' Celso Antunes the playing of Ensemble Contrasts delivers an always alert and flexible interpretation"

1) TIPPETT ENSEMBLE

Paulo Chagas „Sodoma“, music for voices, instruments and electronic sounds        
Tippett Ensemble/Helix Ensemble

Ltg: Celso Antunes    
Label: Sub Rosa, Belgien (SubCD 026-48, 1993))

Paulo Chagas  „Francis Bacon“, music for voices, instruments and electronic sounds

2)    CHAMP D’ ACTION
 
„Quincunx“, music by Flemish composers
Champ d’Action/ Ltg: Celso Antunes
Label: Megadisc, Belgien  (MDC 7869, 1994)

 Karel Goeyvaerts „The serial works“
Champ d’Action/ Ltg: Celso Antunes
Label: Megadisc, Belgien (MDC 7845, 1998)


3)    NEUES RHEINISCHES KAMMERORCHESTER (NRKO)

„Bilder aus Osten“, Musik für Streichorchester
NRKO / Ltg: Celso Antunes
Label: Paulus, Brasilien (CD 003300, 1997)

„Live in der Kölner Philharmonie“
NRKO / Ltg: Celso Antunes
Label: BME, Deutschland (LC 4852, 1998)


4) CAMERATA FUKUDA

Antonio Vivaldi  „Vier Jahreszeiten“
Violine: Elisa Fukuda / Camerata Fukuda
Ltg: Celso Antunes       Label: Comep, Brasilien (CD 6614-1, 1992)
J.S.Bach “Violinkonzerte”
Violine: Elisa Fukuda / Camerata Fukuda
Ltg: Celso Antunes     Label: Comep, Brasilien (CD 6651-6, 1995)

“Convergences”, Brazilian Music for Strings
Camerata Fukuda / Ltg: Celso Antunes
Label: Paulus, Brasilien (CD 005250, 2001)


“Camerata Fukuda”, Musik für Streicher
Solisten: Elisa Fukuda (Violine) und Fabio Presgrave (Violoncello)
Ltg: Celso Antunes       Label: Paulus, Brasilien (CD 008237, 2006)
 
 
5) CONTRASTS

Kurt Weill “Zaubernacht” (World premiere recording)
Ensemble Contrasts / Ltg: Celso Antunes
Label: Capriccio, Deutschland (LC 08748, 2002)


6) LJO NRW
   
“Musik auf Burg Langendorf”, Werke bei Respighi, Krek und Mendelssohn
Landesjugendkammerorchester NRW / Ltg: Celso Antunes
Label: LJO NRW/WDR, Deutschland (DDD 2000, 2000)
 
 
7) THE NATIONAL CHAMBER CHOIR OF IRELAND
 
„Ad Multos Annos“, Contemporary Choral Works commissioned by
The National Gallery of Ireland
The National Chamber Choir of Ireland / Ltg: Celso Antunes
Label: NCC/National Gallery, Irland
 
       
“Quasi una Musica”, Werke bei Frank Corcoran
Darin: “Quasi Aspects of an Irish Poem”, für Chor und Violine
Violine: Catherine Leonard / NCC / Ltg: Celso Antunes
Label: Composers’ Art Label / zeitklang Musikproduktion, Deutschland (2006)


„Contemporary Music from Ireland“, Volume 5
Darin: Elaine Agnew „Bread“, für Chor a cappella
NCC / Ltg: Celso Antunes
Label: CMC, Irland (CD 05)

November 17 to 20, in Mannheim, Tuttlingen and Stuttgart

Celso will make his debut with the Gächinger Kantorei, together with Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, with works by Bartók and Orff 

November 25, Jacobikerk Utrecht 

Antunes will conduct the world premiere of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s “Missa a cappella”, with the Netherlands Radio Choir

 February 25, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam  

he will conduct the Netherlands Radio Choir in “Missa in die festo” by the Dutch composer Alphons Diepenbrock.

March 22-24, Sala São Paulo

In the spring Celso Antunes will begin his five year term as Brazilian Associate Conductor of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) with Gustav Mahler‘s “Lied von der Erde”.