Born in New York in 1936, David Zinman studied the violin from the age of 6. A graduate of the High School of Music and Art and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he later studied conducting at the Tanglewood Music Center in Boston. He thereafter came to the attention of Pierre Monteux, who invited him to be his assistant with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1961. Mr. Zinman was named chief conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra in 1964, a position which he held until 1977. His notable success with this ensemble led to his later appointment as Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic from 1979 to 1982. He was concurrently Music Director of the Rochester Philharmonic from 1974 to 1985 and thereafter Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 1998, honing this ensemble into one of America's leading symphonic orchestras. His programming of a broad repertoire, the introduction of historically informed per-formance practice and the commitment to the performance of contemporary music distinguished Mr. Zinman's tenure with Baltimore Symphony. He has been a guest conductor of the leading North American orchestras (Boston, Chicago, Cleveland,
New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles Pittsburgh, Minnesota and San Francisco Symphony) and conducts regularly the most distinguished formations of Europe (Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, l'Orchestre de Paris, Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam) as well as the Israel Philharmonic. Zinman took up his current post as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich at the beginning of the 1995 season, after having conducted this ensemble regularly as a guest since 1983. He has toured extensively with the orchestra throughout the United States, Europe and Japan.
Possessing an extensive discography of over 100 recordings, he was the recipient of the Grammy Award, le Grand Prix du Disque, the Edison Prize, the Gramophone Award as well as the German Record Critics Prize.
David Zinman was Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival from 1998 to 2010 and founded there the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen, an important training ground for conductors.