Andreas Delfs

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Andreas Delfs (b. August 30, 1959) is a German conductor and the Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

Delfs was born in Flensburg, Germany. He began studying piano and music theory at age five, and by age twenty was named Music Director of the Hamburg University Orchestra. ^[1] Delfs graduated from Hamburg Conservatory in 1981, and earned his master's at Juilliard School of Music in 1984. At Hamburg, Delfs studied under Aldo Ceccato and Christoph von Dohnanyi. After receiving his Master's, he accepted the post of Assistant Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, then under the music directorship of Lorin Maazel. He also held the position of Conductor of the Swiss Youth Symphony Orchestra (SYSO).

Delfs was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in 1996. In 1999 he took the Orchestra and a tour of Cuba, the first by an American Orchestra in over 37 years. In December 2006, he announced that he would be leaving the Milwaukee Symphony after the 2008-2009 season (the Orchestra's fiftieth season), and become its Conductor Laureate.

He held the post of Music Director of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra from 2001-2004, and the position of General Music Director of Hannover from 1995-2000. In March 2007, Delfs was named the next Principal Conductor of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, starting with the 2007-2008 season.

Delfs has guest-conducted many of the major American orchestras, including the Philadephia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the National Symphony,the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and the the Seattle Symphony.

Preceded by Zdeněk Mácal	Music Director, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra 1997-2009	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Hugh Wolff	Music Director, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra 2001-2004	Succeeded by no further music directors
Preceded by JoAnn Falletta (music advisor)	Principal Conductor (designate), Honolulu Symphony Orchestra 2007-	Succeeded by designate