Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, CC (French pronunciation: [ja.nik ne.zɛ se.ɡɛ̃]; born Yannick Séguin;[1] 6 March 1975) is a Canadian conductor and pianist. He is currently music director of the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montréal), the Metropolitan Opera, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He was the principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra from 2008 to 2018.
Early life and education[edit]
Nézet-Séguin was born in Montreal on 6 March 1975 to two specialists in education, Serge P. Séguin, PhD, a university professor, and Claudine Nézet, MA, a university lecturer and coordinator.[1] He began to study piano at age five, with Jeanne-d'Arc Lebrun-Lussier, and decided to become an orchestra conductor at age ten.[2]
Nézet-Séguin studied successively at St-Isaac-Jogues Primary School, at Collège Mont-Saint-Louis Secondary School and at Bois-de-Boulogne College. In the meantime, he was admitted to Anisia Campos's piano class, at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec where he earned five first prizes in piano and in four related musical subjects. He also studied choral conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt at the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and did many master classes with renowned conductors (George Benjamin, Roberto Carnevale, Daniele Gatti).
Personal life[edit]
Nézet-Séguin resides in Montreal and Philadelphia with his husband Pierre Tourville, a violist in Orchestre Métropolitain.[41] He has multiple pets, and has made a playlist on Spotify and Apple music for pets to listen to as part of his social media activities.[42]
Virginia Parker Prize (2000)
Prix Opus (2005)
Award, a companion award of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards (2010)
National Arts Centre
Doctorate honoris causa, (2011)
UQAM
Prix Denise-Pelletier, Government of the Province of Quebec (2011)
(2012)
Companion of the Order of Canada
Doctorate honoris causa in music, , Montreal (2017)
McGill University
The Betty Webster Award, Orchestras Canada, Peterborough/Montreal (2020)
winner in 2022 for Best Orchestral Performance for Price: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 and in 2023 for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album for Voice of Nature – The Anthropocene with soprano Renée Fleming and Nézet-Séguin as accompanist,[44] Best Opera Recording: for Blanchard: Fire Shut Up in My Bones with The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and The Metropolitan Opera Chorus[45] and Best Opera Recording for Blanchard: Champion[46][47] in 2024 and nominated for Best Opera Recording for Aucoin: Eurydice, also with The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and The Metropolitan Opera Chorus in 2022;[48] Best Classical Compendium for A Concert for Ukraine and for Best Orchestral Performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra for Price: Symphony No. 4; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony for 2024.[49]
Grammy Awards
Orchestral Works, Flemish Radio Orchestra, Klara (2004)
Arthur De Greef
Saint-Saëns, , Orchestre Métropolitain, ATMA Classique (2006)
Symphony No. 3
En concert, Orchestre Métropolitain, Audiogram (2007)
Pierre Lapointe
Beethoven, & Richard Strauss, Death and Transfiguration, Rotterdam Philharmonic, RPhO (2008)
Symphony No. 3
Bruckner, , Orchestre Métropolitain, ATMA Classique (2008)
Symphony No. 9
Beethoven, , & Korngold, Violin Concerto, Renaud Capuçon (violin), Rotterdam Philharmonic, RPhO (2009)
Violin Concerto
Bruckner, , Orchestre Métropolitain, ATMA Classique (2009)
Symphony No. 8
La tragédie de Salomé, Orchestre Métropolitain, ATMA Classique (2011)
Florent Schmitt
Debussy, et al., Orchestre Métropolitain – 30 ans, Orchestre Métropolitain, ATMA Classique (2011)
Ein Heldenleben & Vier letzte Lieder, with Dorothea Röschmann (soprano), BIS Records (2011)
Richard Strauss
Bruckner, , Orchestre Métropolitain, ATMA Classique (2011)
Symphony No. 4
Mahler, , The Philadelphia Orchestra (2011)
Symphony No. 5
Bruckner, , Orchestre Métropolitain, ATMA Classique (2013)
Symphony No. 6
various, Portraits: The Clarinet Album, with , Rotterdam Philharmonic, Virgin Classics (2013)
Andreas Ottensamer
Le Sacre du printemps, & Stokowski–Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon (2013)
Stravinsky
& de Falla, Concertos, with Miloš Karadaglić (guitar), London Philharmonic Orchestra, LPO Ltd (2014)
Joaquín Rodrigo
Rachmaninov Variations, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op.43, Daniil Trifonov (piano), The Philadelphia Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon (2015)
Rachmaninov
Symphonies 1–5, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and RIAS Kammerchor, Deutsche Grammophon (2017)
Mendelssohn
VISIONS OF PROKOFIEV, Romeo and Juliet, Op.64, Violin Concerto No.1 in D Major, Op.19, Cinderella, Op.87, Violin Concerto No.2 in G Minor, Op.63, The Love For Three Oranges, Op.33, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Deutsche Grammophon (2018)
Prokofiev
Destination Rachmaninov: Departure, Piano Concertos 2&4, Daniil Trifonov (piano), The Philadelphia Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon (2018)
Rachmaninov
Piano Concerto No.20, K.466, Seong-Jin Cho (piano), Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Deutsche Grammophon (2018)
Mozart
Florence Price: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon (2021)
Florence Price
Mahler, , Orchestre Métropolitain, ATMA Classique ACD2 2711 (recorded 2014, released 2015)
Symphony No. 10
Suite Op. 2, Juventus, La notte di Plàton, Gethsemani, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon (2023)
De Sabata
(in English and French)
Official website
Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal biography
Askonas Holt agency biography
Biography at the Canadian Encyclopedia
(in English and French).