Passionate about conducting orchestras and opera, it was with the strongest encouragement from Armin Jordan, of whom he was assistant, and Franz Welser-Möst, that his career as conductor began in 2001 with Lucio Silla by Mozart in Lausanne and Caen.
Since then, Nicolas Chalvin has performed in concert at the head of prestigious orchestras in a repertoire ranging from early classics (Mozart, Haydn) to the latest contemporary works.
On disc, he delivered the first recordings of the Sophie Arnould[1] opera by Gabriel Pierné (Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, label Timpani, nominated at the BBC Awards 2008 and Aucassin et Nicolette by Paul Le Flem with Bernard Tétu and the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie (label Timpani, 2011).
After his debut in Lausanne ( Lucio Silla), commitments immediately followed at the Opéra de Lausanne, for Véronique by Messager and the Zürich Opera House for the La Belle Vie ballet then the following year Daphnis et Chloé by Ravel, with choreographies by Heinz Spoerli.
Since then, Nicolas Chalvin has performed in many opera houses, directing works that bear witness to great curiosity and were as many opportunities to work with the greatest directors, such as Matthew Jocelyn, Alain Garichot, Stephan Grögler, Omar Porras [fr], Jérôme Savary, Daniel Slater, Jean-Louis Martinoty, Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier: Don Pasquale by Donizetti, Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck, Reigen by Philippe Boesmans, La vie parisienne by Offenbach, Carmen by Bizet at the Opéra de Lausanne, The Nose by Shostakovitch, The Rake's Progress by Stravinsky at Nantes-Angers Opéra, Maria Stuarda, L'elisir d'amore, Don Pasquale by Donizetti, L'italiana in Algeri by Rossini, A Midsummer Night's Dream by Benjamin Britten and Eugene Onéguin by Tchaikovski at the Théâtre de Caen, Véronique by Messager in Nancy and Rouen, Dolorès[2] by André Jolivet and Rita by Donizetti in Rennes, Così fan tutte by Mozart at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Les Troyens by Berlioz at the Tiroler Landestheater of Innsbruck.