Grammy award winning Paavo Järvi is now in his third season as Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris, a contract which has already been extended until the end of the 2015/16 season. Last season saw them touring to Japan, China and Korea, appear at the Bad Kissingen and Grafenegg Festivals, and perform in Moscow, Tallinn and Aix-en-Provence. In 2012/13, their plans include substantial tours of Germany. In November 2012 Paavo Järvi received the Commandeur de lOrdre des Arts et des Lettres by Aurélie Flippetti for his outstanding contribution to Music in France. In January 2013, The Order of the White Star was awarded by the President of Estonia to Paavo Järvi for his outstanding contribution to Estonian Culture. In July 2012 it was announced that Paavo Järvi will take up the position of Chief Conductor with the NHK Symphony Orchestra from the beginning of the 2015/16 season. During the past 5 years as Music Director of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Järvi has appeared with the orchestra in Japan, China, Korea and has taken his orchestra to many of the major European Festivals including the BBC Proms, the Rheingau Musik Festival and the Robeco Summer series in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. His many recordings with the orchestra include all the Bruckner symphonies for Sony and are currently recording a cycle of Nielsen symphonies. At the end of 2011/12, the orchestra undertook a second successful tour of Asia and this season sees them tour to Italy. Paavo Järvi has been the Artistic Director of Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen since 2004 and regularly receives critical acclaim for both his concerts and recordings of Beethoven’s Symphonies, all of which have now been released on Sony. He received the 2010 ECHO Klassik Conductor of the Year Award for Symphonies Nos. 2 & 6; Symphonies Nos. 3 & 8 and won the prestigious Deutschen Schallplattenkritik Prize in 2007. They have performed the complete Beethoven Symphonies cycle around the world at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Beethovenhalle Bonn, Salzburg Festival, Minato-Mirai, Yokohama, Lincoln Center, Lanaudiere Festival and at the Warsaw Easter Festival. The orchestra are now embarking on a similar path with the complete Schumann symphonies. As a guest conductor, he performs with orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw and Russian National orchestras, Wiener Philharmoniker, Münchner Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic and The Cleveland and Chicago Symphony orchestras. Future guest conducting highlights include return visits to the Berliner Philharmoniker, Staatskapelle Dresden, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Philharmonia Orchestra. In the 2010/11 season, Paavo Järvi completed a highly successful ten-year tenure as Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, leaving behind him a legacy of extensive touring and a discography of sixteen CDs for Telarc. In recognition of his work for the orchestra, he has been appointed Music Director Laureate. Since the start of his career, Järvi has made it a priority to champion works by fellow Estonian composers including Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Lepo Sumera and Eduard Tubin. He is also Artistic Adviser to the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and Järvi Summer Festival in Pärnu.