MEET OTTO
Artistic Leadership & Global Stage
Otto Tausk brings curiosity, precision and a strong sense of purpose to the podium. At home in symphonic, opera and contemporary repertoire, he combines a clear technique with an instinctive understanding of sound, structure and communication. Demanding yet composed, he leads with a calm authority that gives musicians both direction and freedom to explore.
He has been Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since 2018 and is also Artistic Advisor to the VSO School of Music. During his tenure, he has collaborated with many of the world’s leading soloists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, Renée Fleming, Itzhak Perlman, Daniil Trifonov, Gidon Kremer, James Ehnes, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Hilary Hahn, Khatia Buniatishvili and Hélène Grimaud. In April 2026, Tausk took the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on their first European tour spanning five countries and seven concerts, with performances in Croatia, Slovenia, Liechtenstein, and Germany, including a residency at the prestigious Salzburg Easter Festival.
He has previously served as Music Director of Holland Symfonia in the Netherlands and Theater und Orchester St. Gallen in Switzerland, where his operatic work included world premieres, Swiss premieres and productions ranging from Mozart and Tchaikovsky to Korngold, Wagner and Richard Strauss.
As a guest conductor, he has worked with leading orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmoniker, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, and major orchestras across North America, Australia and New Zealand and Asia. His close engagement with contemporary music has led to world premieres by composers including Georg Friedrich Haas, David Hefti, Samy Moussa, Michel van der Aa and Micha Hamel.
Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles Philharmonic
2018
Appointed Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
London debut at the BBC Proms, conducting Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben
2012
Appointed Music Director of Theater und Orchester St. Gallen, Switzerland
2002
First Prize Con Onore, Emma Contestabile Prize and Monte dei Paschi di Siena Award at the Academia Musicale Chigiana, Siena
2004
Begins as assistant conductor to Valery Gergiev at the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
2007
Appointed Chief Conductor of Holland Symfonia
2012
Appointed Music Director of Theater und Orchester St. Gallen, Switzerland
2018
Appointed Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra; London debut at the BBC Proms, conducting Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben
2021
Contract extension Music Director Vancouver to 2026
contract extension Music Director Vancouver to 2030
2025
2024
Returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic for sold-out performances at the Hollywood Bowl
2025
Contract extension Music Director Vancouver to 2030
Begins as assistant conductor to Valery Gergiev at the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
2004
2002
First Prize Con Onore, Emma Contestabile Prize and Monte dei Paschi di Siena Award at the Academia Musicale Chigiana, Siena
contract extension Music Director Vancouver to 2026
2021
2007
Appointed Chief Conductor of Holland Symfonia
2024
Returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic for sold-out performances at the Hollywood Bowl
Recorded Works
His discography includes recordings with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, St Gallen Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Danish National Symphony Orchestra, including Hans Pfitzner’s Orchesterlieder, which received the Choc du mois from Classica France, and Mendelssohn’s First Symphony, named BBC Music Magazine’s Concerto Disc of the Month.
About teaching
Teaching brings me closer to the core of what I do, trying to understand the enigmatic nature of conducting. Searching for the mysterious connection between gesture, intention, sound and most of all: listening in leadership.
"Otto Tausk inspired our Weimar Conducting class with his insightful leadership on works by Ravel and Rachmaninoff. His profound insights from practice, and his inspiring advice developed each individual student personally and were an absolute enrichment for our semester work!”
- Ekhart Wycik
Professor Orchestral Conducting, Weimar
“Otto Tausk is a conductor and teacher on a highly empathetic and human level, who encouraged me to express myself intensely.”
- Lea Ray
Conducting Student in Weimar
What people say
“The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conjured up clouds of fluid, silky sounds of all dynamic ranges. All these extreme contrasts were brought together with great precision, masterly framed by Otto Tausk.”
Olga de Kort, Bachtrack
Bachtrack
“His depth of musicianship is only matched by spontaneity and excitement of performance! Every concert with Maestro Tausk is a joy and I look forward to making music together each and every time!”
Vadim Gluzman
Violinist
“Tausk has built a reputation for bringing new creativity to the ever-aging orchestral repertoire and this choice demonstrated just why he has built such a reputation.”
Darcy Lewis
WASO Perth
