Press Enter to search
Jing Huan currently serves as Principal Conductor of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra. She also serves on the boards of the China Musicians Association and Jeunesses Musicales International (JMI). In August 2022, she participated in the 2022 National Outstanding Young Artists (Conductors) Showcase organized by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Musicians Association. On that occasion, she was selected among the “Top Ten Young Conductors of China.”
A graduate of Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music who received her training with Professor Xu Xin, she obtained her Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting in 2009 at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) under the tutelage of Mark Gibson, where she was awarded a full scholarship to continue her doctoral studies, concurrently serving as the Conductor Assistant of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO), including the CSO’s May Festival (2011–2013). During the same period, she was also Assistant Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Artaria Chamber Orchestra.
In June 2012, Jing Huan was one of two prizewinners at the inaugural Li Delun National Conducting Competition held in Qingdao, China. In the same year, she participated in the Campos do Jordão International Festival in São Paulo, where her outstanding performance led to an invitation by Maestra Marin Alsop to serve as Assistant Conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony’s 2013 music season. That same year, Jing Huan and her work with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra attracted the attention of Maestro Long Yu, which led to her appointment at the GSO.
In December 2013, Jing Huan made her critically-acclaimed debut concert as the Resident Conductor of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, leading soloist Maxim Vengerov in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Since then, she has received invitations and collaborated with such orchestras as the China Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony, Shenzhen Symphony, Hangzhou Philharmonic, Guiyang Symphony, Ningbo Symphony, Xi’an Symphony, Qingdao Symphony, Sichuan Symphony, Shaanxi Symphony, Xinjiang Symphony, Kunming Nie Er Symphony, Shenyang Symphony, Macao Orchestra,Macao Chinese Orchestra and Tianjin Julliard Symphony during their music seasons, garnering much praise. She has collaborated with such renowned soloists as Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, Rudolf Buchbinder, Vadim Repin, Gil Shaham, Midori, Robert Blocker, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Jian Wang, Lü Siqing, Li-Wei Qin, Zhang Haochen, Chen Sa, Warren Mok, Liao Changyong, Liang Ning and Huang Ying.
In 2014, Jing Huan was appointed as Music Director of the Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra (GSYO). Under her leadership, the orchestra charted remarkable progress and made their first tour to Europe, appearing at the Berlin Philharmonie under the auspices of Young Euro Classic in August 2015. Jing Huan’s achievements at the helm of the GSYO attracted the attention of Jeunesses Musicales International, and she was elected to serve on JMI’s Board in July 2016.
In October 2016, Jing Huan presented a concert entitled “In Love with Shakespeare” at the Beijing Music Festival to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. In January 2017, she was appointed Secretary-General of the Artistic Committee of Youth Music Culture Guangdong (YMCG) and conducted its critically-acclaimed opening concert.
In May 2017, Jing Huan conducted the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra on their European tour to Italy and the United Kingdom. Three months later, she led the GSYO on their Asia tour to Sydney, Jakarta and Singapore for cultural exchange. In late July 2018, she returned with the GSYO to Europe, performing in Lyon (France), Prague (Czech Republic) and the Musica Riva Festival, Lago di Garda (Italy). In July 2019, she led the GSYO on tour to Japan, performing at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and the Fukuoka Symphony Hall, the latter as part of a cultural exchange commemorating the 40th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Guangzhou and Fukuoka.
Oleksandr Yankevych began playing the piano at age 10 and graduated with honours at the Music Academy of Bydgoszcz in Poland. Later, he joined the Opera Studio of the Warsaw State Opera and the Opera Studio of the Zurich Opera House before working as korrepetitor and assistant conductor at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. Yankevych is Laureate of several international competitions, including the HSBC Académie d’Aix-en-Provence (2018), and won Second Prize and the Orchestra Prize at the 2021 Arturo Toscanini Competition (Parma).
Gerald Karni enjoys a diverse career in music, regularly traveling around the world with leading instrumentalists and conductors. Born in Israel, he began violin at a young age before switching to the viola, which he plays as member of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, led by Daniel Barenboim. As a conductor, he has worked with orchestras in the United States, Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Switzerland under the guidance of teachers such as Jorma Panula, Benjamin Zander and Marc Kissozcky. Gerald is mentored by both Daniel Barenboim and Jorma Panula. In 2021, he was awarded a Silver Medal as well as a Special Mention at the Third International Antal Doráti Conducting Competition in Budapest.
In February 2023, French conductor Samy Rachid was appointed the new Assistant Conductor of Boston Symphony Orchestra under Music Director Andris Nelsons for a two-year term, effective in October 2023. He will debut with the orchestra during the Tanglewood Music Festival 2024, followed by subscription concerts at Symphony Hall during Boston Symphony Orchestra’s 2024/25 season. Currently working as Assistant Conductor of the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, Samy Rachid was a Conducting Fellow in the Verbier Festival Conducting programme in 2022, where he worked with such renowned conductors as Klaus Mäkelä and Gianandrea Noseda, and took part in the Gstaad Conducting Academy, where he worked closely with Jaap von Zweden and became the first French conductor to be awarded the Academy’s Neeme Järvi Prize.
Jaehyuck Choi is a conductor-composer, and artistic director of the ensemble blank. After having his debut with the London Symphony at the Lucerne Festival in 2018, Choi has been invited to Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Trondheim Symphony, etc. He was assistant conductor to Paavo Järvi’s Korean Tour, Vienna Opera Academy, and guest assistant to Ensemble Intercontemporain. Winning the First prize of the Concours de Genève with his clarinet concerto in 2017 and conducting the London Symphony at the Lucerne Festival with Sir Simon Rattle on Stockhausen’s Gruppen in 2018, brought him international recognition as both composer and conductor. Choi’s works are represented by Universal Edition in Wien, which have been performed and commissioned by Menuhin Competition, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Parker Quartet, Divertimento ensemble, Chamber Music Columbus, Banff Centre for the arts and creativity, etc. Graduate of The Juilliard School and the Barenboim-Said Akademie, Jaehyuck makes his home in Berlin and Seoul.
Israeli conductor Rotem Nir currently serves as the Conductor in Residence and Head of Music at the Israeli Opera, while also working as the assistant to the music director at the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion. With extensive experience, he has previously worked as an assistant conductor at the Israel Chamber Orchestra and has conducted numerous Israeli orchestras including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, and the Haifa Symphony Orchestra. Rotem’s repertoire spans from Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno with the Georgisches Kammerorchester in Ingolstadt to Verdi’s La traviata at the Israeli Opera. He has garnered recognition through awards such as the Golden Baton conducting competition of the Buchmann Mehta School of Music and the Haifa Symphony Orchestra and the New Conductors competition of the Israel Chamber Orchestra. Rotem’s musical education includes studies at the Nes Ziona Conservatory, the Thelma Yellin High School for the Arts, and the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, where he studied conducting with Yoav Talmi and bassoon with Daniel Mazaki. 2024 marks Rotem’s second year as a Fellow of the Verbier Festival’s Conducting Programme.
Carrie-Ann Matheson has a multi-faceted international career as pianist, conductor and educator, and since January 2021, is the Artistic Director of the San Francisco Opera Center. A native of Canada, Ms.Matheson began her career at the Metropolitan Opera, where she was a tenured member of the music staff, serving as assistant conductor, prompter, pianist and vocal coach. The expansion of her European performing career began in 2014 when she was invited by Maestro Fabio Luisi to join the coaching and conducting staff at Opernhaus Zürich.
Especially in demand as a recital pianist, she has performed with many of the world’s most celebrated opera singers, including Rolando Villazón, Benjamin Bernheim, Jonas Kaufmann, Piotr Beczała, Diana Damrau, Thomas Hampson and Joyce DiDonato.
Ms. Matheson made her conducting debut at Opernhaus Zürich, where she has since conducted works such as La Finta Giardiniera, Don Pasquale and Iphigénie en Tauride. As assistant conductor, she has worked with luminaries including James Levine, Fabio Luisi, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, and Gianandrea Noseda, and has been engaged in that capacity by such renowned festivals as the Salzburger Festspiele and the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival.
Passionate about nurturing the next generation of opera singers and pianists, Ms. Matheson has worked with the world’s leading young artist programs, including the International Opera Studio (Opernhaus Zürich), Atkins Young Artist Program (The Mariinsky Theatre), Lindemann Young Artist Development Program (The Metropolitan Opera), Ryan Opera Center (Lyric Opera of Chicago), Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival and the International Vocal Arts Institute.
Ms. Matheson holds degrees from the University of Prince Edward Island (B.Mus.Ed), the Cleveland Institute of Music (M.Mus in Collaborative Piano), the Manhattan School of Music (Professional Studies Diploma in Vocal Accompanying) and is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
Singer and conductor, tenor and baritone, eclectic artist with more than 150 roles, acclaimed by the public on stages all over the world.
Defined Renaissance man, awarded with honorary titles and prizes also for his humanitarian commitment.
Promoter of young talents and founder of Operalia. Worldwide Ambassador of Spanish Culture and Zarzuela.
Extraordinarily versatile, he has been general director and promoter of opera with Carreras and Pavarotti.
Performer of world premieres of operas, starred in opera movies, pioneer of crossover and winner of 12 Grammy Awards.
Conductor with more than 600 performances.
His career has continued for more than half a century and for this he has been celebrated at the Operas of New York, Vienna, Verona, Milan and Buenos Aires.
Zubin Mehta was born in 1936 in Bombay and received his first musical education under his father’s Mehli Mehta’s guidance who was a noted concert violinist and the founder of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. After a short period of pre-medical studies in Bombay, he left for Vienna in 1954 where he eventually entered the conducting programme under Hans Swarowsky at the Akademie für Musik. Zubin Mehta won the Liverpool International Conducting Competition in 1958 and was also a prize-winner of the summer academy at Tanglewood. By 1961 he had already conducted the Vienna, Berlin and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras and has recently celebrated 50 years of musical collaboration with all three ensembles.
Zubin Mehta was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 1961 to 1967 and also assumed the Music Directorship of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1962, a post he retained until 1978.
In October 2019 he celebrated his farewell with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to which he has served for 50 years. On this occasion he was named Music Director Emeritus of the IPO.
In 1978 he took over the post as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic commencing a tenure lasting 13 years, the longest in the orchestra’s history. From 1985 to 2017 he has been chief conductor of the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence.
Zubin Mehta made his debut as an opera conductor with Tosca in Montreal in 1963. Since then he has conducted at the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Scala Milano, and the opera houses of Chicago and Florence as well as at the Salzburg Festival. Between 1998 and 2006 he was Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. In October 2006 he opened the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia and was the President of the annual Festival del Mediterrani in Valencia until June 2014 where he conducted the celebrated Ring cycle with the Fura del Baus in coproduction with the Florence opera house. Other Ring cycles were completed at the Chicago Opera and the Bavarian State Opera.
Zubin Mehta’s list of awards and honours is extensive and includes the
“Nikisch-Ring” bequeathed to him by Karl Böhm. He is an honorary citizen of both Florence and Tel Aviv and was made an honorary member of the Vienna State Opera in 1997, of the Bavarian State Opera in 2006 and of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien in 2007. The title of “Honorary Conductor” was bestowed to him by the following orchestras: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (2001), Munich Philharmonic Orchestra (2004), Los Angeles Philharmonic (2006), Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (2006), Staatskapelle Berlin (2014) and Bavarian State Orchestra (2006), with whom he performed in Srinagar, Kashmir in September 2013. In 2016 the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples appointed Zubin Mehta as Honorary Music Director and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic honoured him in 2019 as Conductor Emeritus. In February 2019 the Berlin Philharmonic appointed him their Honorary Conductor. A particular honor was made to him in 2022 when the new concert hall of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence was named after him.
In October 2008 Zubin Mehta was honoured by the Japanese Imperial Family with the “Praemium Imperiale”. In March 2011 Zubin Mehta received a special distinction, in getting a star on the Hollywood Boulevard. The Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany was bestowed to him in July 2012. The Indian Government honoured him in September 2013 with the “Tagore Award for cultural harmony” which a year earlier was awarded to Ravi Shankar. The Australian Government named him Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia in 2022.
Zubin Mehta continues to support the discovery and furtherance of musical talents all over the world. Together with his brother Zarin he is a co-chairman of the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation in Bombay where more than 200 children are educated in Western Classical Music. The Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv develops young talent in Israel and is closely related to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, as is a new project of teaching young Arab Israelis in the cities of Shwaram and Nazareth with local teachers and members of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.