Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Yannick Nézet-Séguin (born March 6, 1975, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian conductor and pianist who was music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra (2012– ), which he was credited with revitalizing through a dynamic mixture of “music-making and diplomacy,” and of the Metropolitan Opera (2018– ) in New York City.

As a young man, Nézet-Séguin studied piano, conducting, composition, and chamber music at the Quebec Conservatory in Montreal and choral conducting at the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. Later he thrived under the guidance of several well-known conductors, most notably Italian maestro Carlo Maria Giulini. Nézet-Séguin became known for his remarkable musicianship, dedication, and enthusiasm.

In 2012 he was appointed music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. At the time, the ensemble was emerging from bankruptcy, and Nézet-Séguin sought to “reconnect the orchestra to its community.” To this end the orchestra, in addition to performing its scheduled season concerts at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, appeared at impromptu shows around the city—in shipyards, churches, and schools.

Elsewhere Nézet-Séguin served as artistic director and principal conductor (2000– ) of the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montreal) and as music director (2008–18) of the Rotterdam (Netherlands) Philharmonic Orchestra; he assumed the role of honorary conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic in 2018. In addition, he worked with many other fine ensembles in Europe, including the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berliner Staatskapelle, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Nézet-Séguin was also a notable opera conductor. He had regular engagements at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera, and he also appeared at the Salzburg Festival, La Scala (Milan), the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden, London), and the Dutch National Opera (Amsterdam). In 2016 he was appointed to succeed James Levine as music director of the Metropolitan Opera. However, because the conductor’s schedule was so busy and because his contract was still intact with the Philadelphia company, he could not commit to the new position until the 2020–21 season. Beginning in 2017, he maintained the two posts in tandem and assumed the title music director designate of the Metropolitan Opera, conducting two operas there each season. Nézet-Séguin later adjusted his schedule and took up the role of music director for the 2018–19 season, two years earlier than planned.

At a time when few conductors had personal recording contracts, Nézet-Séguin enjoyed an open-ended agreement with Deutsche Grammophon. His extensive discography included numerous recordings for the German label, including the 2015 Rachmaninov Variations with Daniil Trifonov and the Philadelphia Orchestra.