Peter Szilvay (b. 1971) is an energetic and charismatic conductor and a notable interpreter of new music, a significant amount of which he has premiered and recorded. He is also one of a growing number of versatile conductors who learned their trade from inside the orchestra. After working as a professional viola player, Szilvay served as Assistant Conductor to Mariss Jansons at the Oslo Philharmonic and later held the same position at the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra. He has since conducted a string of illustrious ensembles including the St Petersburg Philharmonic, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Royal Danish Orchestra.
In his native Norway, Szilvay has worked with KORK (The Norwegian Radio Orchestra), the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, the Arctic and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras and the Trondheim and Kristiansand Symphony Orchestras. He continues to enjoy a close relationship with the Oslo Philharmonic and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestras, and has conducted the Oslo, Trondheim, Bodø and Arctic Sinfoniettas and the BIT20 Ensemble in Bergen. Peter’s professional reputation in Sweden has led to invitations to conduct the Gothenburg, Malmö and Umeå Symphony Orchestras.
Szilvay is an experienced opera conductor and has worked on staples of the German and Italian operatic repertory. He has led productions at Den Norske Opera & Ballett, Nordnorsk Opera, Opera Sør and at the Mainfranken Theater in Würzburg, Germany.
In 2011, Szilvay was recognized for his work with contemporary music when the Norwegian Society of Composers awarded him their Artist Prize. He has conducted over 160 premieres and has recorded new music with the Oslo Philharmonic and with the Norwegian Army and Navy Bands. With The Norwegian Radio Orchestra, he made the first recordings of the complete symphonies of Edvard Fliflet Bræin. He has recorded Finn Mortensen's "Symphony Op. 5" with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and Eivind Groven's two symphonies with Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra. He has also pioneered orchestral music by Jon Øivind Ness and Lene Grenager which was recorded for the Simax and Aurora labels respectively.