Yannick Nézet-Séguin Named Next Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra

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Chief Conductor Charles Dutoit becomes Conductor Laureate of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2012-13 season

Philadelphia Orchestra Association Chairman Richard B. Worley and President and CEO Allison Vulgamore announced today that Yannick (Yah-NEEK) Nézet-Séguin (NAH-zay SAY-gahn) has been named as the Orchestra’s next Music Director. His seven-year contract begins immediately, with Mr. Nézet-Séguin assuming the title of Music Director Designate for two seasons and taking on the full role of Music Director in the 2012-13 season. Mr. Nézet-Séguin will come to Philadelphia this Friday, June 18, 2010, to celebrate his appointment with The Philadelphia Orchestra and the City of Philadelphia .

With his appointment, Mr. Nézet-Séguin joins a distinguished history inclusive of young Music Directors of The Philadelphia Orchestra. When he assumes the Music Director title full time at the age of 37, Mr. Nézet-Séguin will join the ranks of Leopold Stokowski who was 30 years old when he became Music Director of the Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy who assumed the position at age 38, and Riccardo Muti who became Music Director at age 39.

Mr. Nézet-Séguin made his acclaimed debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra in December 2008 conducting Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist André Watts and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”), and most recently led the Orchestra in Vivier’s Orion, Franck’s Symphony in D minor, and Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Nicholas Angelich in December 2009. In addition to his position in Philadelphia, Mr. Nézet-Séguin will also remain Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montreal).

A captivating leader, Mr. Nézet-Séguin was chosen as the Orchestra’s next Music Director for his musicianship and diverse repertoire that ranges in both style and scope. Whether leading chamber, choral, symphonic, or large-scale operatic works, he applies his broad array of interpretive ideas to music spanning from the Baroque to the contemporary.

Forthcoming guest appearances include conducting the Vienna Philharmonic for the 2010 Salzburg Festival production of Don Giovanni; regular productions for the Metropolitan Opera; debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony; and first productions for La Scala Milan and London’s Royal Opera House.

As The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Music Director Designate, Mr. Nézet-Séguin will lead two weeks of subscription concerts in Philadelphia during the 2010-11 season. On October 29, 30, and 31, 2010, he will conduct Haydn’s Symphony No. 100 (“Military”) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, and on January 6, 7, and 8, 2011, he will lead Debussy’s Nocturnes and the Orchestra’s first performances of Mozart’s Requiem in 20 years. In the 2011-12 season, Mr. Nézet-Séguin will lead a total of five weeks.

In his first season as Music Director (2012-13), Mr. Nézet-Séguin will lead up to seven weeks of concerts; and in his second and third seasons (2013-14 and 2014-15) he will conduct 15 weeks. His fourth and fifth season (2015-16 and 2016-17) will increase to 16 weeks of concerts. His weeks each season will be inclusive of subscription concerts, special events, tours, and summer activities.

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