BSO Names Jean-sébastien Vallée Director Of Choruses And Conductor Of The Tanglewood Festival Chorus
Vallée will lead the TFC in performances of Haydn's The Creation, a world premiere by Osvaldo Golijov, and Mahler's Symphony No. 3.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has appointed Jean-Sébastien Vallée as BSO Director of Choruses and Conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus with the start of the 2026-27 season. Vallée becomes the all-volunteer group's third director since its founding in 1970 by inaugural director John Oliver. He succeeds James Burton who led the TFC from 2017 to 2025.
Vallée, who served as one of several guest choral directors in 2025-26, was at Tanglewood on the final weekend of the BSO's summer season to lead the TFC in a Prelude concert in Ozawa Hall featuring Martín Palmeri's Misa a Buenos Aires and in two BSO performances in The Shed that offered Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, Brahms's “Selig sind, die da Leid tragen” from Ein deutsches Requiem, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. He also directed the TFC's performances with the BSO in the same Beethoven and Bernstein works at Symphony Hall last spring.
During the BSO's 2026-27 season, Vallée prepares the TFC's performances of Haydn's The Creation and the world premiere of Osvaldo Golijov's Creation over two weeks in November with Philippe Jordan and Eric Jacobsen conducting, respectively. In January 2027 he prepares the chorus for the BSO's concert-opera performance of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades with Andris Nelsons on the podium. Next April he leads the TFC in Mahler's Symphony No. 3, which marks Nelsons' final Symphony Hall performance as BSO music director. The TFC's 2027 Tanglewood programs will be announced in late January. Future seasons will also include collaborations with the Boston Pops.
About Jean-Sébastien Vallée
Vallée is a Canadian-American conductor whose career bridges the orchestral and choral worlds. Recognized for the breadth of his musicianship, compelling performances, and dynamic artistic leadership, he brings to the podium a distinctive combination of symphonic vision, vocal expertise, and a deep understanding of the relationship between music, text, and dramatic expression.
Along with his new role leading the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, he continues as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and its professional chamber ensemble, the Toronto Mendelssohn Singers. He is also Full Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at McGill University's Schulich School of Music.
His international career has brought him into collaboration with many of North America's leading orchestras, including the Chicago, Toronto, and National Arts Centre orchestras, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, and the BSO. Equally at home leading orchestral, choral-orchestral, and vocal repertoire, Vallée has conducted works ranging from the central symphonic and sacred repertoire to contemporary music and world premieres.
At the heart of Vallée's work is a belief in music as an act of communication. Whether leading an orchestra, chorus, or combined forces, his approach is grounded in the architecture and rhetoric of the score and the expressive possibilities of sound and text. His performances are distinguished by clarity, immediacy, and a strong sense of musical narrative, while his programming creates connections across periods, traditions, and artistic disciplines.
An active recording artist, Vallée records for ATMA Classique, and his performances have been broadcast internationally. His discography includes Remember (2024), Distance (2021), Requiem – Fauré & Duruflé (2018), and Lux (2017). His newest recording, Lo, How a Rose, with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, is scheduled for release in fall 2026.
Alongside his performing career, Vallée is an influential educator and mentor to a new generation of conductors. At McGill University, he leads one of Canada's foremost university choral and conducting programs, with former students holding professional and academic appointments in Canada and abroad. A sought-after clinician and pedagogue, he has led masterclasses, workshops, and residencies throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He serves on the Board of Directors of Chorus America.
Vallée's contributions to music have been recognized with major honors, including Université Laval's Distinguished Alumnus Award and the Order of Choral Merit from the Alliance chorale du Québec. An active conductor on the international stage, his 2026–27 season includes engagements across Canada and the United States, including three programs with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and conducting debuts with the Seattle Symphony and Pacific Symphony.
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