Appointed as the 7th artistic director of the Korean National Symphony Orchestra from 2022, David Reiland reveals his strong ambitions for KNSO, which aims to grow internationally beyond S. Korea. Reiland, born in Belgium, studied music in Brussels, Paris, and Salzburg, and has been a globally based conductor overseas. In other words, he is a typical “cosmopolitan” musician who is in demand by the current classical music realm. Reiland, who is familiar with various cultural arts and presents new repertoires with a broader perspective, can be said to be the best conductor for the KNSO, which strives to actively respond to the rapidly changing art environment of the 2020s.

David Reiland is also a musical director of the Orchestra National de Metz Grand Est and the first guest conductor of the Sinfonietta de Lausanne from 2018. In particular, he serves as the Schumann Guest of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra in Germany. As Schumann spent much of his time in Düsseldorf where the music school (Robert Schumann Conservatory) was established in Schumann’s name, it can be said that the local musical circles highly appreciate Reiland’s musical prowess. Furthermore, he has been working with the world’s most preeminent orchestras, such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He was anointed with knighthood (chevalier) in the National Order of the Legion of Honour in 2023 from the French government, exhibiting his strong presence in the global musical world.

He has both French and German sensibilities, and is building his unique world of music. He boasts a wide range of repertoire encompassing French music by Berlioz, Debussy, and Ravel, the 19th century German music by Schumann and Strauss, representing his unique auditory sense beyond the conventional approach. Such a unique music community was created through intimate cooperations with numerous great master maestros, including Simon Rattle, Mark Elder, Vladimir Jurowski, and Roger Norrington. His interpretation of Mozart, which was influenced by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, has garnered rave reviews from critics the world over.