Andris Nelsons, who has led the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the United Kingdom since 2008, has been appointed the new music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The Latvian-born Nelsons, 34, will be the youngest music director of the Boston symphony in more than 100 years, according to a May 16 press release announcing the appointment.

“Sought after by the top orchestras and opera houses of the world, Maestro Nelsons, at age 34, is already considered one of the most brilliant conductors of our time,” said Ted Kelly, chairman of the Boston symphony’s board of trustees.

Nelsons was born in Rīga in 1978 into a family of musicians, according to the press release. Before studying conducting, Nelsons played trumpet in the Latvian National Opera Orchestra. From 2003-2007 he was the music director of the Latvian National Opera and from 2006-2009 conducted the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie in Herford, Germany. Nelsons is married to Latvian opera star Kristīne Opolais.

Nelsons first conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra in March 2011 in a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. He will be the 15th music director in the orchestra’s history.

“Each time I have worked with the BSO I have been inspired by how effectively it gets to the heart of the music, always leaving its audience with a great wealth of emotions,” Nelsons said in the press release. “So it is with great joy that I truly look forward to joining this wonderful musical family and getting to know the beautiful city of Boston and the community that so clearly loves its great orchestra.”

Through this summer, Nelsons will be the music director-designate for the Boston orchestra. He will appear with the orchestra in a July 27 concert at Tanglewood, the orchestra’s summer home in Berkshire County in western Massachusetts. Nelsons’ first official concert after assuming his new role as music director of the orchestra will be Oct. 17-19.