Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2012 and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra since 2008. 2017-2018 will be his tenth and final season with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2020-2021, he succeeds James Levine as the third Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera, New York.

He is regularly invited to lead prestigious orchestras, including Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, Bayerischer Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. His opera interpretations have been acclaimed in many of the world’s most famous Opera Houses, such as the Metropolitan Opera (New York), the Salzburg Festival, La Scala (Milan), the Royal Opera House (London), as well as in such reputed Concert Halls as the Musikverein (Vienna), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and Carnegie Hall (New York).

The maestro has made recordings with several orchestras for the famous yellow Deutsche Grammophon label while continuing his role in the collaborative partnership between ATMA Classique and the Orchestre Métropolitain. His honours include Artist of the Year presented by the prestigious magazine Musical America; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award (RPS, London); Canada’s National Arts Centre Award (Ottawa), the Prix Denise-Pelletier, awarded by the Quebec government and the Medal of Honour of the National Assembly of Quebec.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2012, Companion of the Quebec Order for the Arts and Literature in 2015, and an Officer of the National Order of Quebec, also in 2015. He has also been the recipient of many Prix Félix and Opus for some of his recordings with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre Métropolitain.

As a committed citizen, he shines throughout the world, not only because of his undeniable talent, but also because of his outstanding community involvement, especially among young people. In Montréal, he set up the Orchestre Métropolitain’s Young Music Lovers program, which every year gives more than 10,000 young people the opportunity to learn about the world of classical music.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin studied piano, conducting, composition and chamber music at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in Montréal, as well as choral conducting at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. He then completed many master classes in orchestral conducting with renowned conductors, such as Italian maestro Carlo Maria Giulini. He has received honorary doctorates from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), the Curtis Institute of Philadelphia, Rider University of Princeton (Westminster Choir College) and McGill University.