General Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Chief Conductor of BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson, Wyoming, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra.
He began his career in Mannheim, Germany as répétiteur, and spent summers assisting in Bayreuth. He spent those early years guest conducting throughout the German repertory theaters and orchestras.
He is a recipient of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and holds honorary degrees from Edinburgh University, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
He was born and raised in Edinburgh.
He conducted Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice at the Theater-an-der-Wien in Vienna.