Kent Nagano
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kent Nagano (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor.
He was born in Berkeley, California while his parents were in graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. He grew up in Morro Bay. He studied sociology and music at the University of California, Santa Cruz. After graduation he moved to San Francisco State University to study music. While there, he took composition courses from Grosvenor Cooper and Roger Nixon.
His first conducting job was with the Opera Company of Boston, where he was assistant conductor to Sarah Caldwell. Since 1978, he has been the conductor of the Berkeley Symphony, and it was announced in January 2007 that he will step down from this position in 2009[1] [2].
Nagano also was music director of the Opéra de Lyon from 1988-1998. He served as principal conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester from 1992-1999. During his tenure, Nagano received criticism for his expensive and ambitious programming, as well as his conducting fees.[3] However, poor financial management at the orchestra separately contributed to the fiscal troubles of the orchestra.[4] His contract was not renewed after 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 selections of Ludwig van Beethoven[5], Arnold Schoenberg[6], Anton Bruckner[7], Alexander von Zemlinsky[8], and Gustav Mahler[9].
Nagano became Los Angeles Opera principal conductor for the 2001-2002 Season. In May 2003, Nagano was named the LA Opera's first ever Music Director, and retained this position through 2006. Olivier Messiaen chose Nagano to premiere his opera Saint François d'Assise in 1983. 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 premier of John Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer in Brussels.
Nagano became the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal in 2006 and of the Bavarian State Opera in 2006. His contract with the Bavarian State Opera does not allow him to be the music director of another opera company.[10] He is also one of the Russian National Orchestra's Conductor Collegium.[11]
Nagano is married to the pianist Mari Kodama. They have a daughter.
[edit] References
- ^ Joshua Kosman, "Berkeley Symphony's renowned music director to step down after 31 years, leaving a legacy of challenging and unusual programs". San Francisco Chronicle, 20 January 2007.
- ^ Joshua Kosman, "Nagano showed that rule breaking can make a career". San Francisco Chronicle, 22 January 2007.
- ^ John Ezard, "Nagano passes on Halle baton". The Guardian, 25 May 1999.
- ^ Stephen Moss, "Say Hallé, wave goodbye". The Guardian, 28 May 1999.
- ^ Andrew Clements, "Beethoven: Christus am Olberge, Domingo/ Orgonasova/ Schmidt/ Rundfunkchor Berlin/ Deutsches Symphonie/ Nagano". The Guardian, 28 November 2003.
- ^ Andrew Clements, "Schoenberg: Die Jakobsleiter; Friede auf Erden, Rundfunkchor Berlin/ Deutsches Symphonie Berlin/ Nagano". The Guardian, 30 January 2004.
- ^ Andrew Clements, "Bruckner: Symphony No 3: Deutsches Symphonie Berlin/ Nagano". The Guardian, 2 July 2004.
- ^ Andrew Clements, "Zemlinsky: Der König Kandaules: Stemme/ Brubaker/ Schöne/ Deutsches Symphonie Berlin/ Nagano". 15 October 2004.
- ^ Tim Ashley, "Mahler: Symphony No 8, Greenberg/ Dawson/ Matthews/ Koch/ Manistina/ Gambill/ Roth/ Rootering/ Berlin Radio Chorus/ MDR Radio Chorus Leipzig/ Windsbacher Children's Choir/ Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/ Nagano". The Guardian, 11 March 2005.
- ^ Daniel J. Wakin, " National Briefing, West: California: Short Stay For A Music Director". New York Times, 17 September 2004.
- ^ Vadim Prokhorov, "Batons at dawn". The Guardian, 18 March 2004.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by John Eliot Gardiner |
Music Director, Opéra National de Lyon 1988–1998 |
Succeeded by Louis Langrée |
| Preceded by Stanisław Skrowaczewski |
Principal Conductor, Hallé Orchestra 1992–1999 |
Succeeded by Mark Elder |
| Preceded by Vladimir Ashkenazy |
Principal Conductor, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin 2000–2006 |
Succeeded by Ingo Metzmacher (designate) |
| Preceded by (unknown) |
Principal Conductor and Music Director, Los Angeles Opera 2001–2006 |
Succeeded by James Conlon |
| Preceded by Charles Dutoit |
Music Director, Montreal Symphony Orchestra 2006– |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Zubin Mehta |
General Music Director, Bavarian State Opera 2006– |
Succeeded by incumbent |
