Jean-Marie Zeitouni Named Music Director of the Columbus Symphony

The Columbus Symphony today announced the appointment of Jean-Marie Zeitouni to the position of music director. The 36-year-old native of Montreal has been contracted to lead the Symphony for the next four years, and will be responsible for the repertoire, programming, and artistic direction of the organization, as well as building and sustaining the Symphony's visibility and involvement in the community. The appointment comes on the heels of a recent announcement that the Symphony was able to balance the 2009-10 budget after once projecting a $1.5 million deficit.

"It's an exciting time for the Symphony and for Columbus," statEd Martin Inglis, CSO Board Chair. "The diligent efforts of our search committee have produced a rising young star to take the helm of our organization. Jean-Marie is an international talent with the artistic vision and leadership abilities capable of further stabilizing the future of the Symphony locally, nationally, and internationally."

Jean-Marie, who has guest conducted the Columbus Symphony on three previous occasions, was selected following a comprehensive 18-month search. He will reside in Columbus for the length of his tenure with the organization.

"He's a world class talent and we're excited to have him here," stated John O'Grady, President of the Franklin County Commissioners. "The Symphony and the arts are a catalyst to attract other businesses to Columbus, and that's an important part of our economy as we move forward in this community."

"The Columbus Symphony is already recognized worldwide as a premier arts organization," said Michael C. Mentel, President of Columbus City Council. "The addition of someone as dynamic and talented as Jean-Marie will only help to enhance the international status of our symphony and our city."

"To move forward economically, we've got to have a thriving arts and cultural community," stated Alex Fischer, President and CEO of The Columbus Partnership. "The work Jean-Marie will do with our symphony, in partnership with our community, is very important in achieving our economic goals."

"Jean-Marie comes to our city at a time of incredible creativity around the arts and the future of the arts in our community," said Doug Kridler, President and CEO of The Columbus Foundation. "Evidenced particularly, and maybe most dramatically, by the fusion of CAPA and the Symphony to protect that which is so crucial to this community and our country - the preservation of great art. He couldn't be coming at a better time."

Jean-Marie will make his official debut as music director on Saturday, October 9, conducting the Scheherazade program. The evening's lineup includes Ravel's Shéhérazade, Debussy's La mer, and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, and will also feature soprano Karina Gauvin.

The Columbus Symphony Orchestra presents Scheherazade at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.) on Saturday, October 9, at 8 pm and Sunday, October 10, at 3pm. Tickets are $20.50-$66.50 for adults and $11.50-$34.50 for children, and can be purchased at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (614) 228-8600 or (800) 745-3000.

Jean-Marie will conduct the following performances in the 2010-11 Classical Series:

Saturday & Sunday, October 9 & 10, Scheherazade
Friday & Saturday, October 22 & 23, Best of the Baroque
Saturday & Sunday, November 6 & 7, Wetherbee Plays Mendelssohn
Thursday, January 27, Lang Lang
Friday-Sunday, March 11-13, Verdi's Requiem
Saturday & Sunday, March 26 & 27, Bolero!

About Jean-Marie
Jean-Marie has emerged as one of Canada's brightest young conductors with an eloquent yet fiery style, in repertoire ranging from Baroque to contemporary music, which results in regular re-engagements across North America.

A graduate of the Montreal Conservatory, Jean-Marie earned three master's degrees in conducting, percussion, and theory. He made his US orchestra debut with the Oregon Symphony in the spring of 2005, and has since conducted and often made repeat appearances with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Quebec City, Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg Symphonies in Canada, and the Houston, Oregon, Honolulu, Columbus, Huntsville, San Antonio, and Omaha Symphonies in the US. Very active as an opera conductor, Jean-Marie led numerous productions with the Cincinnati Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Opéra de Montreal, l'Opéra de Quebec, Glimmerglass Opera, Calgary Opera, Edmonton Opera, l'Opéra de Marseille, and at the Banff Centre Festival.

Jean-Marie's association with Les Violons du Roy, a celebrated chamber orchestra based in Québec City, goes back 10 years, first as conductor-in-residence, then as associate conductor, and since 2008, as principal guest conductor. In 2006, he recorded his first CD with Les Violons du Roy entitled Piazzolla which received a 2007 JUNO Award for Classical Album of the Year in the category Solo or Chamber Ensemble. They have also recorded two subsequent CDs-Bartok (2008) and Britten (2010).

About Scheherazade
Scheherazade is a symphonic suite composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1888, and is considered one of his most popular works. Based on the book One Thousand and One Nights, sometimes known as The Arabian Nights, this orchestral work combines two features common to Rimsky-Korsakov and Russian music-dazzling, colorful orchestration and an interest in the East.

In a brief introduction written by Rimsky himself for the premiere of the work:
"The Sultan Schariar, convinced that all women are false and faithless, vowed to put to death each of his wives after the first nuptial night. But the Sultana Sheherazade saved her life by entertaining her lord with fascinating tales, told seriatim, for a thousand and one nights. The Sultan, consumed with curiosity, postponed from day to day the execution of his wife, and finally repudiated his bloody vow entirely."

Consisting of a symphonic suite of four related movements that form a unified theme, Scheherazade was written to produce a sensation of these fantasy narratives from the Orient.

To post a comment, you must register and login.