Kent George Nagano (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.
Early life and education
Nagano was born in Berkeley, California, while his parents were in graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Sansei, which means that he is a third generation Japanese-American.[1]
He grew up in Morro Bay, a city located on the Central Coast of California in San Luis Obispo County. He studied sociology and music at the University of California, Santa Cruz[citation needed]. After graduation he moved to San Francisco State University to study music. While there, he took composition courses from Grosvenor Cooper and Roger Nixon. He also studied at the École Normale de Musique de Paris.
Career
Nagano's first conducting job was with the Opera Company of Boston, where he was assistant conductor to Sarah Caldwell. In 1978, he became the conductor of the Berkeley Symphony, his first music directorship. He stepped down from this position in 2009.[2] During his tenure in Berkeley, Nagano became a champion of the music of Olivier Messiaen and initiated a correspondence with him.[3]
In 1982, Nagano conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in several of Frank Zappa's completely orchestral compositions for the first time. Nagano recorded several of Zappa's pieces on the issue London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 1, where Zappa had personally chosen Nagano to conduct the orchestra. Nagano described this as "my first chance, my first real break".[4]
Beginning in 1985, Nagano was the Music Director of the Ojai Music Festival four separate times, the last in 2004, and once alongside Stephen Mosko in 1986.
Nagano was music director of the Opéra de Lyon from 1988–1998, where he recorded, with the Lyon National Opera Orchestra and chorus, numerous works by Busoni (Doktor Faust, Arlecchino and Turandot), Stravinsky (The Rake's Progress), Offenbach (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Debussy (world premiere of Rodrigue et Chimène), Canteloube (Chants d'Auvergne), Berlioz (La Damnation de Faust), Carlisle Floyd (Susannah), Richard Strauss (The French version of Salomé, the original version of Ariadne auf Naxos), Peter Eötvös (Trois Soeurs), Massenet (Werther), Delibes (Coppelia), Poulenc (Dialogues des Carmélites), Ravel (orchestral works), and Weill (Seven Deadly Sins).
Nagano served as principal conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester from 1992-1999.
Nagano became principal conductor and artistic director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in 2000, and served in this position until 2006. He made a number of recordings with the orchestra, including music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Bruckner, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Gustav Mahler.
Nagano became principal conductor of the Los Angeles Opera (LA Opera) with the 2001-2002 season. In May 2003, Nagano was named the LA Opera's first music director, and he retained this position through 2006. He has been a regular guest at the Salzburg Festival, where he premiered Kaija Saariaho's L'amour de loin in 2000. He also conducted the world premiere of John Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer at la Monnaie in Brussels.
In 2006, Nagano became the music director of both the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM) and the Bavarian State Opera. His contract with the Bavarian State Opera does not allow him to be the music director of another opera company.[5] He is scheduled to conclude his Bavarian State Opera tenure in 2013.[6] With the OSM, he has conducted commercial recordings for such labels as ECM New Series and Analekta. His current contract with the OSM is through 2016.[7] He is also one of the Russian National Orchestra's Conductor Collegium.[8] In August 2012, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Nagano as its principal guest conductor and artistic advisor, as of the 2013-2014 season, with an initial contract of 3 years.[9] In September 2012, the Hamburg State Opera announced the appointment of Nagano as its next Generalmusikdirektor (General Music Director) and Chefdirigent (chief conductor), effective with the 2015-2016 season.,[10] with an initial contract through the 2019-2020 season.[11]
Personal life
Nagano is married to pianist Mari Kodama, and they have one daughter.[citation needed]
Honors
- Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award in 1985
- Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, 2008[12]
- Wilhelm Furtwängler Prize 2010, Beethovenfest Bonn
Notes
- ^ Asakawa, Gil. (2012). Being Japanese American, p. 79.
- ^ "Joana Carneiro named Berkeley Symphony music director". Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. 15 January 2009. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
- ^ Allan Kozinn (1 November 1987). "Nagano With a Little Bit of Luck, a Conducting Career Flourishes". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
- ^ Burnett, Richard (2008-09-04). "Nagano grooves". Hour (magazine). Retrieved 2008-09-04.
- ^ Daniel J. Wakin (17 September 2004). "National Briefing, West: California: Short Stay For A Music Director". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
- ^ "Star Munich opera director Nagano resigns amid controversy". The Local. 2010-07-06. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
- ^ Arthur Kaptainis (2012-08-03). "Kent Nagano's future is a secret harmony of work". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
- ^ Vadim Prokhorov (18 March 2004). "Batons at dawn". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
- ^ Malin Clausson (2012-08-30). "Nagano tar över efter Dudamel". Göteborgs-Posten. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
- ^ Arthur Kaptainis (2012-08-03). "OSM's Nagano to Hamburg Opera in 2015". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ^ Charlotte Smith (2012-09-26). "Kent Nagano appointed music director of Hamburg State Opera from 2015". Gramophone. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
- ^ Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), "2008 Autumn Conferment of Decorations on Foreign Nationals," p. 6; retrieved 2012-12-4.
External links
- Kent Nagano official website
- Kent Nagano at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
- Kent Nagano at AllMusic
- Kent Nagano discography
Cultural offices | ||
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Preceded by John Eliot Gardiner |
Music Director, Opéra National de Lyon 1988-1998 |
Succeeded by Louis Langrée |
Preceded by Vladimir Ashkenazy |
Principal Conductor, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin 2000-2006 |
Succeeded by Ingo Metzmacher |
Preceded by no predecessor |
Principal Conductor and Music Director, Los Angeles Opera 2001-2006 |
Succeeded by James Conlon |
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