Kent Nagano
SEASON PARTNER
Kent Nagano has established an international reputation as one of the most insightful and visionary interpreters of both the operatic and symphonic repertoire. In addition to his position as Music Director of the OSM, Kent Nagano is also Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and General Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Hamburg State Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra.
Born in California, Kent Nagano spent his early professional years in Boston, working in the opera house and as Assistant Conductor to Seiji Ozawa at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. As a much sought-after guest conductor, Maestro Nagano has worked with most of the world’s finest orchestras and leading opera houses. He has garnered multiple awards for his recordings, including two Grammys, and most recently the Echo Klassik, the Diapason d’Or and a Juno for the OSM’s recording of Ibert and Honneger’s L’Aiglon with the DECCA label.
Kent Nagano is a Grand Officer of the Order of Québec, a Commander of the Order of Montreal, and has been awarded Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun. He holds honorary Doctorates from both McGill University and the Université de Montréal.
Musical direction
2006 to present: Music director of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since September 2006, with the contract renewed until 2020.
September 2015 to the present: General music director of the Hamburg State Opera and conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic.
January 2014: Kent Nagano returns to the Bavarian State Opera to conduct a revival of Jörg Widmann’s Babylon.
2006 to 2013: Music director of the Bavarian State Opera, where he commissions new operas. With the Bavarian State Orchestra, Kent Nagano undertakes tours in Europe and to Japan, and records Bruckner’s Symphonies Nos 4, 7 and 8.
2003: Kent Nagano becomes the first music director of the Los Angeles Opera, after occupying the position of principal conductor of the orchestra for two years.
2000 to 2006: Artistic director and principal conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. These years constitute a key period in his career, involving as they do numerous tours and recordings.
1991 to 2000: Music director of the Hallé Orchestra.
1988 to 1998: Music director of the Opéra National de Lyon.
1978 to 2008: Music director of the Berkeley Symphony.
Artistic advisor and guest conductor
A sought-after guest conductor, Kent Nagano has worked with most of the world’s finest orchestras, including the philharmonic orchestras of Vienna, Berlin and New York, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Additionally, he was appointed an artistic advisor and the principal guest conductor with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in September 2013.
Kent Nagano has also led numerous other works at other opera houses, among them Shostakovich’s The Nose (Berlin State Opera), Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel (Le Châtelet, Paris) and Hindemith’s Cardillac (Opéra National de Paris). Among his other world premieres may be mentioned Bernstein’s A White House Cantata and operas by Peter Eötvös (Three Sisters) and John Adams (The Death of Klinghoffer and El Niño).
Recordings
Kent Nagano has a continuing relationship with Sony Classical and has also recorded on the Analekta, Erato, Teldec, Pentatone, Deutsche Grammophon, Harmonia Mundi and Decca labels, winning many awards:
A Grammy for his recordings of:
– Busoni’s Doktor Faust with the Opéra National de Lyon
– Peter and the Wolf with the Russian National Orchestra
– Saariaho’s L’amour de loin with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
ECHO Klassik award:
In March 2016 the OSM and Kent Nagano won a first ECHO Klassik award for their complete version of L’Aiglon, a lyrical drama by Honegger and Ibert recorded as a world premiere on the Decca label.
Maestro Kent Nagano has received the following awards and distinctions:
– The insignia of Grand Officer from the Ordre national du Québec, in 2013
– Named a Great Montrealer by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, in 2013
– The Order of the Rising Sun, the most prestigious decoration awarded by the Japanese government to a non-Japanese, in 2008
– The title of honorary citizen of the City of Montréal, in 2007
– Honorary doctorates from McGill University and Université de Montréal, in 2007
– The title of honorary conductor, in June 2006, at the conclusion of his mandate with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Over that orchestra’s 60 years of existence, he is only the second recipient of that honor.
