In 2012, Montreal-born Yannick Nézet-Séguin added the Music Directorship of The Philadelphia Orchestra to his roles as Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and long-time Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montreal), where he has served since 2000. He also became an Honorary Member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in 2016-2017. 2017-2018 will be his tenth and final season with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and will draw to a close with the orchestra’s centenary celebrations in Rotterdam and around Europe. In 2020-2021, he succeeds James Levine as the third Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera, New York and remains in post with The Philadelphia Orchestra until at least summer 2026.
Yannick has worked with many leading European ensembles and enjoys close collaborations with the Berlin Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, Bayerischer Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester, and Chamber Orchestra of Europe; between 2008 and 2014 he was also Principal Guest Conductor of London Philharmonic Orchestra. He has appeared three times at the BBC Proms and at many European festivals, among them Edinburgh, Lucerne, Salzburg, and Grafenegg. North American summer appearances include New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Lanaudiere, Vail, and Saratoga.
2013-2014 saw Yannick’s first tour to China with The Philadelphia Orchestra and also marked the start of his three-year term as Artist-in-Residence at Konzerthaus Dortmund which featured The Philadelphia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Wiener Philharmoniker and chamber concerts.
He made his Salzburg Festival opera debut in 2008 with a new production of Roméo et Juliette, returning in 2010 and 2011 for Don Giovanni. In the 2009-2010 season, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut with their new production of Carmen and has returned each season (Otello, Don Carlo, Faust, La Traviata and Rusalka). He has conducted for Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Netherlands Opera and Vienna State Opera and in 2011 began a cycle of seven Mozart operas for Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, all recorded live by Deutsche Grammophon.
Last season’s highlights included Lohengrin at the Wiener Staatsoper and Yannick’s first Wagnerian production at the Metropolitan Opera; Der fliegende Holländer. Orchestral collaborations included projects with the Bayerischer Rundfunk, Wiener Philharmoniker as part of the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum’s Mozartwoche in addition to a tour of Asia with The Philadelphia Orchestra and European tours with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
Opera in 2017-2018 includes performances of Parsifal and Elektra at the Metropolitan Opera and the continuation of his cycle of Mozart operas at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden (Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Die Zauberflöte) recorded live for Deutsche Grammophon. Alongside his regular subscriptions, orchestral projects comprise returns to the Berliner Philharmoniker, Bayerischer Rundfunk and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Further highlights include a European tour with the Orchestre Métropolitain, the first international tour in the orchestra's history, and European tours with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic which marks the end of his ten-year music directorship with the orchestra.
Recent Deutsche Grammophon releases include Mendelssohn Symphonies Nos. 1-5 and Le Nozze di Figaro with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe which won the 2017 ECHO Klassik for Best Opera Recording and a GRAMMY nomination. September will see the release of an album of French and Italian opera duets recorded with Rolando Villazón, Ildar Abdrazakov, and the Orchestre Métropolitain. The discography also includes the complete Schumann symphonies, The Rite of Spring and Rachmaninov Variations with Daniil Trifonov and The Philadelphia Orchestra; Tchaikovsky with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Lisa Batiashvili and recordings with Rotterdam Philharmonic (EMI Classics, BIS and DG); London Philharmonic (LPO label); and Orchestre Métropolitain (ATMA Classique).
Yannick studied piano, conducting, composition, and chamber music at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in Montreal and choral conducting at the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey before going on to study with renowned conductors, most notably the Italian maestro Carlo Maria Giulini. His honors include Musical America’s Artist of the Year (2016), Royal Philharmonic Society Award; Canada’s highly coveted National Arts Centre Award and the Prix Denise-Pelletier, the highest distinction for the Arts awarded by the Quebec government. He holds honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec in Montreal (2011), Curtis Institute in Philadelphia (2014) and Westminster Choir College of Rider University (2015). He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2012.
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