Jean-Marie Zeitouni Named Music Director of the Columbus Symphony
By: Gabrielle Sierra Oct. 05, 2010
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."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.
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