Assistant Conductor

GENEVA, 11^th March 2022 - The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande announces the appointment of Ana María Patiño-Osorioto the newly created position of Assistant Conductor for the 2022-23 season. Chosen from close to 300 candidates, Ms. Patiño-Osoriowill work directly with Jonathan Nott and an exciting roster of guest conductors in preparing concerts, recordings, operas, and tours throughout the year.

Born in Colombia in 1995, Ana María Patiño-Osorio completed her Bachelors in conducting at the Universidad EAFIT in Medellin, then graduated from the Masters programme of Orchestral Conducting at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste as a student of Johannes Schlaefli in 2021.

In the same year she won the National Prize for best Conductor of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá. Finalist of the Solti International Conducting Competition in 2020, she has also participated in the Gstaad Conducting Academy, the Tanglewood Festival, and in masterclasses with Herbert Bloomsted, Matthias Pintscher, Bernard Haitink, amongst others.

On her experience at the competition, Patiño-Osorio says “I think something wonderful about the audition was that we played a lot of pieces from Mozart to Webern, and then Jarrell which is very new. From the beginning I have the feeling they want to see a lot of styles, a lot of music…”.

On working with Jonathan Nott and the OSR: “I think he’s very authentic, unique. I think he is always very open and authentic to who he is, which is also important for me…. I really hope we can be a good team and that I can be helpful to his work. I just want to be a wonderful assistant for him and for the orchestra.”

What impressed Jonathan Nott about our winner? “A mix of her ability to conduct, to communicate and the charm with which she engaged each of the musicians. She created a real chamber music atmosphere within the orchestra.”

The competition

Following the initial application round in 2021 which saw close to 300 candidates apply for the position, Ana María Patiño-Osorio was invited to conduct the orchestra on 11^th March together with finalists Andrew Joon Choi, Ustina Dubitsky, Mikel Fernández and Liubov Nosova in a rehearsal of works by Mozart, Schumann, Beethoven, Webern and Jarrell. Ms Patiño-Osorio was awarded the position after winning the majority of votes from the jury. The competition was filmed with the aim of offering all 5 candidates a video from which to enhance their skills.

The role of Assistant Conductor

The role of Assistant Conductor at the OSR is established with the aim of helping a young conductor (aged under 36) launch a successful conducting career. The role offers a unique and privileged opportunity to gain a broad experience across all activities of the orchestra. Ana María Patiño-Osorio will be mentored by Jonathan Nott, the OSR’s Musical & Artistic Director, who has long been a strong supporter of aspiring musicians.  A salaried position within the orchestra, the post is offered for the duration of the 2022-23 season.

The project is enabled by the generous support of the Fondation Caris, Geneva.

For further details about the responsibilities of the position: https://www.osr.ch/talent