Douglas Sheldon, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Columbia Artists Management Inc., is one of the best known and most respected artist managers in the field of classical music, managing some of the world’s preeminent artists and ensembles, and known especially for his work with symphony orchestras. The New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Mariinsky Orchestra, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, China Philharmonic and Shanghai Symphony are a few of the orchestras he represents.
He represents conductors Valery Gergiev, Leonard Slatkin, Juanjo Mena, Michael Francis, Thierry Fischer, celebrates a 30 year collaboration with Anne-Sophie Mutter and works closely with Denis Matsuev, Lucas Debargue, Khatia Buniatishvili, Julian Rachlin and Vadim Repin. He has represented the Beaux Arts Trio and Menahem Pressler and has managed some of the great opera singers of the 20th century, including Teresa Berganza, Grace Bumbry, Justino Diaz and currently Marilyn Horne. He has arranged chamber music tours for pianist Martha Argerich with Nelson Friere and Mischa Maisky.
Always interested in young artists, he introduced pianist Yundi Li (the 2000 Chopin Competition Gold Medallist) and Alexei Volodin, the 2003 Geza Anda Competition Gold to the United States and oversees the careers of Olga Kern, the 2001 Cliburn Competition Gold Medallist; Denis Matsuev, the 1998 Tchaikovsky Competition Gold Medallist; and Lucas Debargue a Tchaikovsky 2015 winner of the Moscow Critics Prize.
He has served as Vice Chair and COO of the White Nights Foundation of America, sponsoring activities of the Mariinsky Theatre (2004-2013) and has held several offices including current President of the Sidney Central School Alumni Association which has an all-class reunion each July He has served as Music Director of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Perth Amboy since 1976, Choir Master of the Hamilton College Men’s Reunion Choir since 1980 and Music Director of the Baldwin Festival Choir of New York since 2008. Mr. Sheldon has been a juror on several international competitions in the United States, Spain and Canada and is currently consulting the developing National Youth Orchestra of China.
