Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Yannick Nézet-Séguin is one of the most celebrated conductors of his generation, renowned for his artistry, leadership, and versatility. Nézet-Séguin was appointed Music Director of New York City’s Metropolitan Opera in 2018, adding this to his directorship of the Philadelphia Orchestra (since 2012) and to the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montreal), of which he has been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor since 2000. He is the third-ever Honorary Member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the end of his 10-year tenure with Rotterdam Philharmonic coincided with the orchestra’s centenary celebrations in its home city and culminated in an acclaimed European summer festivals tour in 2018; today, he continues as its Honorary Conductor.
Nézet-Séguin is deeply committed to broadening the classical and operatic repertoire. He regularly champions works by underrepresented composers such as Florence Price, Clara Schumann, William Dawson, and William Grant Still, while also supporting today’s leading composers. He also provides a platform for the next generation of conductors to grow through his conducting academies in Domaine Forget and Montreal, graduates of which have gone on to positions in great orchestras around the world.
As a guest conductor, Nézet-Séguin has worked with many leading European ensembles and has enjoyed many close collaborations with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, as well as the London Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared several times at the BBC Proms and at many European festivals, among them Edinburgh, Lucerne, and Salzburg. North American summer appearances include New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Lanaudière, Vail, and Saratoga. As an acclaimed opera conductor, he has conducted at the Vienna State Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, and Netherlands Opera, as well as at the Salzburg Festival.
A Montreal native, Nézet-Séguin studied at the Conservatoire de Montréal, where he pursued piano, conducting, and composition. He has earned numerous accolades, including four Grammy Awards, Musical America’s 2016 Artist of the Year, and appointments to the Order of Canada and France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Through his artistry and commitment to musical excellence, Yannick Nézet-Séguin continues to inspire audiences and musicians worldwide.