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JACQUES LACOMBE
Music Director Designate |
From the beginning of his career, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Music Director Designate Jacques Lacombe has been highly praised as a remarkable conductor whose artistic integrity and rapport with orchestras have propelled him to international stature.
Lacombe began the 2009–10 season with his debut with the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, leading an all-star cast of Tosca. He led Ariadne auf Naxos for his debut with the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. He will lead Turandot and Les Contes d’Hoffmann for Opéra de Monte-Carlo and Der fliegende Holländer, Eugene Onegin and concert performances of Waltershausen’s rarely heard Oberst Chabert at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In addition to multiple engagements with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Lacombe appears with the Edmonton and Québec Symphony Orchestras this season. Lacombe is also Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivières in Quebec.
Career highlights include his relationship with the Montreal Symphony. From 2002 to 2006, he led the orchestra in more than 75 performances as its principal guest conductor. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut conducting Werther and returned for Die Fledermaus. Lacombe has led Debussy’s Pelléas et Melisande, Zemlinsky’s Der Traumgörge and new productions of Der fliegende Holländer and Ariadne auf Naxos at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as the world premiere of Vladimir Cosma’s Fanny et Marius with Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna. He served for three years as music director of both orchestra and opera with the Philharmonie de Lorraine in France.
Lacombe has conducted the symphony orchestras of Toronto, Vancouver and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, as well as European orchestras including those of Toulouse, Halle, Liege, Avignon and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic. He has recorded for the Analekta label and has been broadcast on PBS, the CBC, Arte TV in France and on Hungarian Radio-Television.
Born in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec, Lacombe received his musical training at the Conservatoire de Musique Montreal and at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna.
Click here to learn more about Jacques Lacombe, read the press announcement, view photos, watch a video and more!
Click here to go to Jacques Lacombe's personal website. |
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NEEME JÄRVI, ( pronounced nām-eh yair-vē)
Conductor Laureate |
Upon the completion of a critically acclaimed tenure as NJSO Music Director, the 2009–10 season marks Neeme Järvi's first as NJSO Conductor Laureate & Artistic Advisor. His engaging presence and masterful conducting have earned him the highest honors throughout the world and have won the hearts of his audiences. Järvi continues to champion new artists and has brought some of the brightest new stars in classical music to New Jersey’s concert halls, as well as presenting great artists with established reputations.
In addition to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Järvi conducts orchestras and opera companies around the world. He is Chief Conductor of The Hague Residentie Orchestra in the Netherlands, Music Director Emeritus of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor Emeritus of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (National Orchestra of Sweden), Conductor Laureate of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and First Principal Guest Conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. Born in Tallinn, Estonia and an American citizen since 1987, Järvi is one of the world’s busiest conductors.
Maestro Järvi has amassed a distinguished discography repertoire that includes over 350 recordings on the Deutsche Grammophon, Chandos, BIS, Orfeo, EMI and BMG labels. Many international accolades and awards have been bestowed upon him. In Estonia , these include an honorary doctorate from the Music Academy of Estonia in Tallinn, and the Order of the National Coat of Arms from the President of the Republic of Estonia. Mr. Lennart Meri, the mayor of Tallinn, presented Maestro Järvi with the city's first-ever ceremonial sash and coat of arms insignia, and he has been named one of the “Estonians of the Century”. Neeme Järvi holds an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Detroit's Wayne State University, as well as honorary degrees from the University of Aberdeen (Scotland), the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and the University of Michigan; and Commander of the North Star Order from King Karl Gustav XVI of Sweden.
Maestro Neeme Järvi is married to Liilia Järvi , and their two sons Paavo and Kristjan are also conductors. Their daughter Maarika is a flutist. |
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| Neeme Järvi Celebrates 70 Years |
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| Click here to go to Neeme Järvi's personal website. |
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JEFFREY GROGAN,
EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CONDUCTOR |
American conductor Jeffrey Grogan comes to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra from his most recent post as Director of Orchestras and Associate Professor at the Ithaca College School of Music. His humanistic leadership style, coupled with a strong command of skills as a musical communicator, has earned him an impressive reputation as a teacher, lecturer and clinician. He is in demand in these roles with music programs throughout the country.
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HENRY KAO,
GREATER NEWARK CHAMBER ORCHESTRA CONDUCTOR |
A member of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra's viola section since 1991, Henry Kao also occasionally performs with the orchestra as a violinist. He received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in violin performance from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Raphael Bronstein and Ariana Bronne; and a Professional Studies Certificate in viola performance from the Mannes College of Music under Sol Greitzer’s tutelage.
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ARKADY LEYTUSH,
COVER CONDUCTOR |
One of Russia’s most gifted conductors, Leytush has directed orchestras in Europe and the United States to great acclaim. Critics have described him as “a conductor in the Grand Russian Tradition” and his dynamic interpretations have made him an audience favorite. Leytush’s artistry is known throughout the former Soviet Union, but it was not until 1994 that he gained recognition in the United States when he, on a week’s notice, made a stunning debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, replacing Yuri Temirkanov.
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