Milan Turkovic, bassoon

Milan Turkovic originates from an Austro-Croatian family, grew up in Vienna and
became internationally-known as one of the few bassoon soloists. Over the past two
decades, he has become a successful conductor, making appearances all over the
world. Turkovic has conducted in Vienna, Salzburg, Graz, Milan, Venice,
Florence, Rome, London, Prague, Krakow, Bratislava, Munich, New York, Tokyo,
Nagoya, Osaka, Nagoya and Brisbane with orchestras such as the Vienna Symphony,
the Vienna Radio Symphony, Munich Radio Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, the
Orchestra di Padova, The Rome Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra
Sinfonica G. Verdi of Milan, the Krakow Philharmonic, the Tokyo Metropolitan
Symphony Orchestra, the Nagoya Philharmonic, the National Orchestra of Taiwan, The
Croatian Chamber Orchestra and the Prague Philharmonia. The August 2009 issue of
the important Japanese music magazine “Ongaku No Tomo” listed him in a shortlist as
one of the twenty most interesting conductors in the Tokyo music scene. A recipient of
the Edison Award, he also received the German “Echo Klassik” Award in 2010. He
regulary acts as a principal conductor at the Japanese Festival of Kusatsu.

Milan Turkovic has performed as a soloist in almost all the musical centers of the world
with numerous renowned orchestras (Vienna Symphony, Stockholm Philharmonic,
Bamberg Symphony, The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, I Solisti
Italiani, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Camerata Salzburg, Chicago Symphony
Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra (New
York), The English Concert, NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo) and the F. Liszt
Chamber Orchestra (Budapest). He has worked with such conductors as Eschenbach,
Giulini, Harnoncourt, Marriner, Pinnock, Sawallisch, Stein, Vegh among others. Turkovic
was a member of Ensemble Wien-Berlin, of Concentus Musicus Wien and of Chamber
Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Milan Turkovic has appeared at important festivals all over the world, including
Salzburg, Vienna, Lucerne, Lockenhaus, Prades, Prague, New York Santa Fe,
Portland, Osaka, Sapporo, Kusatsu. After a tour with trumpeter Wynton
Marsalis in 1998, Mr. Marsalis dedicated the quintet “Meeelaan” for bassoon and string
quartet to Milan Turkovic, which was subsequently performed by Turkovic all over the
world. Turkovic has performed numerous premiere performances, including works by
Jean Francaix, Sofia Gubaidulina, Ivan Eröd, Rainer Bischof and Thomas Daniel
Schlee,

His discography currently consists of 9 CDs as a conductor, 15 CDs with solo
repertoire, 26 CDs with chamber music and over 200 CDs with Concentus Musicus. He
has recorded the Mozart bassoon concerto four times; his third recording was played
on a period instrument, with Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting. Other releases include
the concerti by C.M.v. Weber (with Marriner), the quintet for bassoon and strings
“Meeelaan” by Wynton Marsalis and a double CD “Bassoon Extravaganza”. On his
most recent CDs he conducted three symphonies by J. Haydn and two CDs with the
German Ensemble Selmer Saxharmonic (Echo Klassik award in 2010) In print, Mr.
Turkovic is the author of four books (in German) A book about the Concentus Musicus
Vienna on the occasion of its 50th anniversary also appeared in a Japanese
translation. He regulary acts as a jury member and jury chairman at international
competitions and is the artistic advisor of the “Middle European Music Academy”