Robert Bokor, internationally acclaimed conductor and violinist, has been Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orchester Musikfreunde St.Gallen, Switzerland since 2019. Since 2019, he has also been Artist in Residence of the Harbin Concert Hall and Guest Conductor of the Harbin Symphony Orchestra, oldest symphony orchestra in China.
In 2023 he concluded a twelve-year tenure as Chief Conductor of the Arpeggione Kammerorchester Hohenems. With the Arpeggione Orchestra, resident orchestra at the Palace of Hohenems in Austria, he has toured extensively through Europe, Asia, North and South America. He was also regular Guest Conductor of the Tianjin Symphony Orchestra in China from 2013 to 2019, Artist in Residence at the Endless Mountain Music Festival in Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015 and Artistic Director of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra from 2008 to 2012.
Robert Bokor is a frequent guest at major concert halls in Europe, Israel, Asia, South, Central and North America and has appeared with many orchestras internationally, including the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, Camerata Zürich, Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz, Kärntner Sinfonieorchester, Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein, Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, Orchestra Sinfonica Metropolitana di Bari, Filarmonica del Festival Pianistico Internazionale di Brescia e Bergamo, Orchestra Milano Classica, Orchestra Sinfonica Città di Grosseto, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza, Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest Symphony Orchestra MAV, Romanian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bucharest Radio Chamber Orchestra, Lódz Philharmonic, Wroclaw Philharmonic, Koszalin Philharmonic, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, Israel Sinfonietta Beer Sheva, Symphony Orchestra of Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theatre, Çukurova State Symphony Orchestra, Tianjin Symphony Orchestra, Harbin Symphony Orchestra, Guangxi Symphony Orchestra, Daejeon Philharmonic, Orquestra Amazonas Filarmônica, Lancaster Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Toronto, amongst others.
Sought after as a performer of great stylistic diversity, Robert Bokor has been a strong advocate of contemporary music with his concert appearances including many world premieres. His concerts have been broadcasted and recorded by several national European, Asian, North and South American radio and television stations. He has collaborated with some of the world's greatest artists and has also appeared at many music festivals in Europe, Asia and the USA. As a passionate and active educator fluent in several languages, Robert Bokor holds masterclasses and workshops worldwide as well as coaching and mentoring Youth Symphony Orchestras and serves as a judge for national and international music competitions.
Robert Bokor was born in Skopje, Yugoslavia, today North Macedonia, into a musical family of Central and Eastern European heritage. He grew up in Belgrade where he also began his musical training on the violin at the Mokranjac Music School, the oldest music school in Serbia. At the age of 11, he made his solo debut with the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. Within a short time, he went on to win numerous awards and competitions as well as frequently appearing on radio and television broadcasts. After completing his studies at the University of Arts in Belgrade, he moved in 1991 to Switzerland where he enjoyed prolific concertmaster and solo career, regularly performing all major violin concertos as well as many rarely performed works for violin and orchestra.
In 2009 Robert Bokor made his conducting debut with the Arpeggione Kammerorchester Hohenems, replacing at very short notice Vladimir Ashkenazy for the concert in Milan's Sala Verdi. Soon, many conducting invitations from the orchestras in Europe, Israel and Asia followed. Subsequently he was appointed the Arpeggione Orchestra's next Chief Conductor, to succeed Alexander Rudin in 2011, leading to shift his focus from the violin to conducting. His wide-ranging experience as former concertmaster and soloists highly influenced his approach to conducting and gives his work with orchestras a unique stamp.
