All Conductors of Eurovision

07/10/2026

Today, our good wishes are going out to France, as bass player and songwriter Joël Rocher is celebrating his birthday.

Coming to Paris from his native town in Normandy, Joël Rocher teamed up with Sophie Makhno in the early 1970s, working extensively with her as a session player and co-composer. Moreover, he toured with several artists as a bass player. Later on, he also had the opportunity to produce for Makhno and others, often in partnership with his longtime friend Pierre Tibéri. Later in life, Rocher was the bass player of the renowned Golden Gate Quartet for many years.

Working with Pierre Tibéri, Joël Rocher arranged Luxembourg's entry to the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, 'C'est peut-être pas l'Amérique', composed by Sophie Makhno and Jean-Claude Petit, and performed by Jean-Claude Pascal. Hand-picked for the job by Jean-Claude Pascal himself, Rocher conducted the RTÉ Concert Orchestra for the crooner's performance in Dublin.

Today, Joël Rocher is turning 79 and we wish him all the best on this special occasion. Joyeux anniversaire, maestro!

==> Our interview with Joël, dating back to 2011, can be found here: https://all-conductors-of-eurovision.blogspot.com/1981/04/joel-rocher.html

02/10/2026

Today, our good wishes are going out to Spain, as arranger and conductor Eddy Guerin (José Manuel Gracia Soria) is celebrating his birthday.

In an adventurous career, Eddy Guerin worked as a bandleader in the Beirut Casino in Lebanon for some years, before returning to his native Spain, where he was one of the most prolific arrangers in the business. Apart from his studio involvement, Guerin also did his fair share of broadcasting, leading the orchestra for the Benidorm Festival on multiple occasions.

In the Eurovision Song Contest, Eddy Guerin took part as a conductor for Spain conductor in 1984 in Luxembourg ('Lady, Lady' by Bravo). Because the group and its production team had disdained taking into account the three-minute rule before travelling to the festival, Guerin had to cut the backing track - still recorded on tape in those years - by hand to avoid disqualification, an anecdote he shared with us in an interview in 2012.

Eddy Guerin is turning 91 today and we wish him all the best on this special occasion. ¡Feliz cumpleaños, maestro!

02/10/2026

Today, our good wishes are going out to Austria, as bass player, songwriter, and producer Mischa Krausz celebrates his birthday.

Part of the generation of Austropop musicians who changed the scene in Austria completely from the 1970s onwards, Mischa Krausz worked with the likes of Wolfgang Ambros, Wilfried Scheutz, Sigi Maron, and many more. Later on, he specialised in composing illustrative music, including for the successful ZDF/ORF TV series 'Julia, eine ungewöhnliche Frau'.

In the Eurovision Song Contest, Mischa Krausz composed two successive Austrian entries, 'Die Welt dreht sich verkehrt' (Stella Jones / 1995) and 'Weil's dr guat got' (George Nussbaumer / 1996). While he left the conducting of the former to Michael Kienzl, Mischa himself stood up to lead the Norwegian Radio Orchestra for George Nussbaumer's performance in Oslo.

Mischa is turning 72 today and we wish him all the best. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Maestro!

==> Our interview with Mischa Krausz can be found by following this link: https://all-conductors-of-eurovision.blogspot.com/1996/05/mischa-krausz.html

29/09/2026

On this day, 80 years ago exactly, Greek all-round musician Michael Rozakis (Μιχάλης Ροζάκης) was born.

Born in Fayum, Egypt, Michael Rozakis grew up in Switzerland. Having commenced his classical guitar studies in Zurich, he moved to Greece in the mid-1960s, obtaining his diploma at the Odeion Conservatory in Athens. One of the pioneers of beat music in his country, Rozakis formed an R&B group of which he was the lead singer, Maik rozakis & the charms. In the 1970s, he built a reputation as a film composer and pop arranger. Apart from his freelance work, Rozakis also was as a conductor and director of music programmes for Greece's national broadcaster ERT. In the last twenty years of his life, he mainly worked as an academy teacher.

In the Eurovision Song Contest, Michael Rozakis led the orchestra for five entries, three for Greece and two for Cyprus, working with Mariza Koch ('Panaghia mou', 1976), Island ('Monica', 1981), Stavros & Constantina ('I agapi acoma zi', 1983), Christos Callow ('Choris scopo', 1990), and Marianna Efstratiou ('Emis forame to chimona anixiatica', 1996).

Michael Rozakis passed away in 2009 at the untimely age of 62. 'Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?'

24/09/2026

Eurovision 1958: a brilliant orchestration by Metropole Orchestra flautist Joop Elders.

First interval act at the Eurovision Song Contest from Hilversum 19...

22/09/2026

Today, our good wishes are extended to Dublin, as Colman Pearce is celebrating his birthday.

Colman Pearce, educated at University College Dublin, had a long involvement as a conductor with the Irish broadcasting service, serving as principal conductor of the R(T)É Concert Orchestra and the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra. He also worked extensively with symphony orchestras in Spain and the United States. His oeuvre of compositions comprises a 'Summerfest', which premiered on Irish radio in 1993.

In the Eurovision Song Contest, Pearce was chief conductor of the first edition of the festival to be held in Dublin, in 1971. In the following four years, he was sent abroad to accompany the Irish candidates in Edinburgh (Sandie Jones), Luxembourg (Maxi), Brighton (Tina Reynolds), and Stockholm (The Swarbriggs). In 1976, Noel Kelehan joined RTÉ as an arranger, upon which the Eurovision Song Contest as well as the Irish National Song Contest became his responsibility.

Colman Pearce turns 88 today and we wish him all the very best. Lá breithe shona dhuit, maestro!

18/09/2026

Eurovision 1966: Dolf van der Linden with the Netherlands' participant Milly Scott.

Milly Scott heeft zojuist met het guitige 'Fernando en Philippo', een liedje gecomponeerd (en gearrangeerd) door Metropole-saxofonist Kees Bruyn op tekst van Gerrit den Braber, het Nationaal Songfestival van 1966 gewonnen. De zangeres, gewoonlijk meer vertrouwd met het jazzrepertoire, poseert met Dolf van der Linden voor de verzamelde pers. Bij het internationale songfestival in Luxemburg zou Scott, opnieuw met Van der Linden als haar dirigent, ver in de achterhoede eindigen.

Milly Scott has just won the 1966 National Song Festival with the merry tune 'Fernando en Philippo', composed (and arranged) by Metropole saxophonist Cees Bruyn with lyrics by Gerrit den Braber. The singer, usually more familiar with the jazz repertoire, poses for the assembled press alongside Dolf van der Linden. At the international Eurovision Song Contest in Luxembourg, Scott—once again with Van der Linden as her conductor—would finish near the bottom of the scoreboard.

18/09/2026

Today, our good wishes are extended to Italy, as Vince Tempera is celebrating his birthday.

Mr Tempera began his career in music as a drummer in progressive pop bands in the 1960s. From 1970 onwards, he has worked as a studio arranger and/or producer for many artists, including Mina, Loredana Berté, and Lucio Battisti. Apart from his studio work, Tempera also composed film music and appeared as a conductor in television shows. He took part in the San Remo Festival as a conductor on 19 occasions between 1970 and 2016, conducting a total of 58 entries.

In the Eurovision Song Contest (Eurofestival in Italian), Vince Tempera conducted Malta's effort 'Singing this song' for Renato Micallef at the 1975 edition in Stockholm (arrangement by Claudio Gizzi). Much later, he had a hand - either as a (co-)arranger, producer, or both - in all Maltese entries which took part in the Eurovision Song Contest between 1991 and 1995. In those years, he came along with the Maltese delegation to the contest as a music advisor.

Vince Tempera turns 80 today and we wish him all the best on this special occasion. Auguri, maestro!

14/09/2026

On this day, 25 years ago exactly, Slovenian jazz musician and conductor Petar Ugrin passed away.

Studying the trumpet at the Ljubljana Music Academy, Petar Ugrin became Yugoslavia’s most acclaimed jazz trumpeter, performing at the Bled Jazz Festival and teaming up with Croatian bandleader Silvije Glojnarić. In 1972, Ugrin joined Jože Privšek’s Ljubljana Radio and Television Big Band. Seven years later, he released his first solo album, ‘Samo muzika’. Apart from his involvement in the RTV Slovenia Big Band, Ugrin was a member of progressive jazz band September.

In the Eurovision Song Contest, Petar Ugrin was the musical director of Kvalifikacija za Millstreet, the pre-selection in which seven new EBU members from Eastern Europe vied for three places in the 1993 final in Millstreet. Ugrin conducted the RTV Slovenia Big Band for the Slovenian and Hungarian entries, ‘Tih deževen dan’ and ‘Árva reggel’. However, he did not accompany the Slovenian qualifiers, 1 X Band, to the international Eurovision final, where ‘Tih deževen dan’ was conducted by its arranger, Jože Privšek.

At the time of his untimely passing in 2001, Petar Ugrin was only 57 years old. "Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?"

14/09/2026

On this day, 95 years ago exactly, Spanish pianist and conductor Rafael Ibarbia was born.

For decades, Rafael de Ibarbia Serra worked as a pianist and conductor for countless programmes for Spanish state broadcaster TVE. He also appeared as a musical director for numerous music festivals, notably the OTI Festival and the Benidorm Festival. In 1974, he even had a go at the Portuguese Eurovision heats as a guest conductor. As a studio arranger, Ibarbia teamed up with the likes of Raphael Martos and Isabel Pantoja.

In the Eurovision Song Contest, Rafael Ibarbia took part as a conductor for Spain on six occasions, leading the orchestra for José Guardiola (1963 / 'Algo prodigioso'), Los TNT (1964 / 'Caracola'), Raphael Martos (1966 / 'Yo soy aquél'), Massiel (1968 / 'La, la, la', Spain's first winning entry), Peret (1974 / 'Canta y sé feliz'), and Micky (1977 / 'Enséñame a cantar').

Rafael Ibarbia passed away in 2003 at the age of 71. "Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?"