One of today’s foremost young conductors, Christian Knapp is known for his dynamic stage presence and energy on the podium. He has performed in festivals and concerts throughout the world, conducting the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the New World Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Western Australia Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Civic Orchestra, among many others, and has collaborated with such renowned artists as Mstislav Rostropovich, Itzhak Perlman, Alexander Toradze, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Garrick Ohlsson, Vinson Cole and Pepe Romero.

Last season, Mr. Knapp conducted the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra (Maine) and the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra. He also appeared with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Pacific Symphony, where he successfully stepped in on short notice to conduct a program of Debussy, Prokofiev and Stravinsky. Previously, he made successful debuts with the Phoenix Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Mexico City Philharmonic, and at the Eastern Music Festival ... read full bio

One of today’s foremost young conductors, Christian Knapp is known for his dynamic stage presence and energy on the podium. He has performed in festivals and concerts throughout the world, conducting the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the New World Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Western Australia Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Civic Orchestra, among many others, and has collaborated with such renowned artists as Mstislav Rostropovich, Itzhak Perlman, Alexander Toradze, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Garrick Ohlsson, Vinson Cole and Pepe Romero.

Last season, Mr. Knapp conducted the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra (Maine) and the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra. He also appeared with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Pacific Symphony, where he successfully stepped in on short notice to conduct a program of Debussy, Prokofiev and Stravinsky. Previously, he made successful debuts with the Phoenix Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Mexico City Philharmonic, and at the Eastern Music Festival.

Mr. Knapp has been re-engaged by the New World Symphony, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra (SSO), where he served as the Associate Conductor from 2004 to 2006, leading a number of high-profile concerts in its main series. He has maintained his association with the SSO, conducting special concerts in collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Company in 2009-10, and this season subscription concerts and a “Beyond the Score” performance.  Another highlight this season is a return engagement with the Milwaukee Symphony, where he will lead five performances of Handel’s “Messiah.”  He made his Hollywood Bowl debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2009, an immediate re-engagement based on concerts he conducted with the orchestra earlier that same season.

An equally accomplished operatic conductor, Mr. Knapp was Associate Conductor of Broomhill Opera in London from 2000 to 2003 and helped create its sister company in South Africa whose innovative productions brought international recognition and led to several worldwide tours. He has conducted a number of operas including Turn of the Screw, The Rake's Progress, Le Nozze di Figaro, Carmen, Der Siblersee and Il trittico.  Mr. Knapp recently conducted Ariadne auf Naxos and Elektra at St. Petersburg’s storied Mariinsky Theatre at the invitation of its Artistic and General Director, Valery Gergiev.

A passionate proponent of new music, Knapp has led such groups as the Perspectives New Music Ensemble in London, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and the Seattle Chamber Players conducting works by John Adams, Julian Anderson, Kaija Saariaho, Pascal Dusapin and Gerard Grisey, among others. In 2005, Knapp conducted the world premiere of Paul Dresher's opera The Tyrant with the Seattle Chamber Players. He has appeared with ICE in New York, conducting the U.S. premiere of Zona by Magnus Lindberg as part of Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival in 2006 and a program of the music of Philippe Hurel at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre.

Born in the United States, Mr. Knapp received bachelor's degrees in piano performance from the New England Conservatory and in philosophy from Tufts University. He studied conducting at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena under Yuri Temirkanov and Myung-Whun Chung; he then earned a post-graduate diploma in conducting from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory in Russia, where he studied with the renowned pedagogue, Ilya Musin.  He has assisted Michael Tilson Thomas at the London Symphony Orchestra and Leonid Korchmar at the Kirov Opera.

The recipient of many honors for his artistic achievements, Mr. Knapp was a prize-winner in the Third International Prokofiev Conducting Competition in 1999. That same year he was also awarded the prestigious Woodhouse Junior Fellowship in Conducting from the Royal College of Music in London working with its orchestras, new music ensembles and opera theater. In 2003 he was selected to participate in the National Conducting Institute with the National Symphony. In 2005 Mr. Knapp and the Seattle Symphony were awarded a grant from the Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation.