Gisèle Ben-Dor

born on 26/4/1955 in Uruguay

Gisele Ben-Dor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Gisele Ben-Dor (April 26, 1955) is an American Israeli orchestra conductor of Uruguayan origin.

International Orchestra Conductor

Gisele Ben-Dor was born in Uruguay and immigrated to Israel in 1973. She graduated from the Rubin Academy of Music, Tel Aviv University and the Yale School of Music, also studying with Mendi Rodan in Jerusalem. She made her conducting debut with the Israel Philharmonic in Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," televised and broadcast by the BBC/London throughout Europe and Israel, as part of a series of masterclasses with Zubin Mehta. As an active guest conductor and music director worldwide, Gisele Ben Dor has had a crucial role in the rejuvenation and promotion of the art music of Latin America, which she performs in concerts, festivals and recordings.[1] Ms. Ben-Dor's talent was recognized early by Leonard Bernstein, with whom she shared the stage at Tanglewood and at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festivals. Since then, she was the Music Director of the Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra and the Annapolis Symphony, as well as Resident Conductor of the Houston Symphony and the Louisville Orchestra. She has led the New York Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Helsinki Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, New World Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Israel Chamber Orchestra, New Israeli Opera, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, additional orchestras in the Netherlands, several orchestras in France, Italy, Spain, Australia and South America amongst many others worldwide. Maestro Ben-Dor is currently Conductor Laureate of the Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Emerita of the Boston Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra, a post to which she was elected exclusively by the musicians. A winner of the Bártok Prize of Hungarian Television, Ms. Ben-Dor has also conducted several Eastern European orchestras in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.[2]

Gisele Ben-Dor and Latin American Music

Uruguayan by birth and upbringing, Gisele Ben-Dor is a champion of Latin American music - notably the works of Ginastera, Villa-Lobos, Revueltas, Piazzolla, and Luis Bacalov - and is widely regarded as one of the world's finest and most dedicated exponents of this repertoire. In 2004, working with Georgina Ginastera, the composer's daughter, she created the "Tango and Malambo Festival" a wide-ranging ten day feast of concerts, dance, and film celebrating the urban and universally admired tango and the less familiar, rustic Malambo (Dance). In 2000, she created the Revueltas Festival, showcasing every aspect of the Mexican composers music. Her major performances of Ginasteras works include a new production and European premiere of his last opera, Beatrix Cenci ,at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, as well as Turbae ad Passionem Gregorianam in Madrid, also a European premiere. She has recorded several CDs of music of Latin American composers, and more are to be released [3] .

Conducting Posts

  • Conductor Laureate, Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra, 2006present
  • Music Director, Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra, 1994-2006
  • Conductor Emerita, Boston Pro -Arte Chamber Orchestra, 2000present
  • Music Director, Boston Pro -Arte Chamber Orchestra, 1991-2000
  • Artistic Advisor, World Piano Competition, Cincinnati, 1996, 1997, 2006, 2008, 2009
  • Music Director, Annapolis Symphony, 1991 97
  • New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Assistant to Music Director Kurt Masur, 1992-2002
  • Resident Conductor, Houston Symphony Orchestra, 1988 91, and Assistant Conductor to Music Director Christoph Eschenbach
  • Assistant Conductor, Louisville Orchestra ( Ky), 198788
  • Music Director, Norwalk Youth Symphony, Connecticut , 198487
  • Music Director, Institute "Ivria", Montevideo, Uruguay, 1969-1973

Recordings

  • The Soul of Tango, 2005, world premiere works by Ástor Piazzolla and Luis Bacalov. Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra, with Juanjo Mosalini, Virginia Tola and Luis Bacalov (Delos)
  • Alberto Ginastera, 1999, "Estancia" complete ballet (world premiere), "Panambi" complete ballet. London Symphony Orchestra, with Luis Gaeta. (Conifer)The album was a Grammy nominee, and has been reissued by Naxos.[4]
  • Alberto Ginastera, 1995, Glosses on Themes of Pablo Casals, both full orchestra and string versions (world premiere) and Variaciones Concertantes. London Symphony Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra (Koch International, reissued by Naxos)
  • Silvestre Revueltas, 1998, "La Coronela" ballet (world premiere), "Itinerarios", "Colorines", Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra (Koch International)
  • Béla Bartók, 1995,"For Children", Divertimento, Romanian Folk Dances. Sofia Soloists Chamber Orchestra (Centaur Records)
  • Ezra Sims, 1994, (CRI), Boston Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra
  • Alberto Ginastera, "Ollantay", "Popol-Vuh", Suite of Native Dances (orchestral version of Suite de Danzas Criollas, op. 15, by Shimon Cohen, world premiere) and Suites from "Estancia" and "Panambi". BBC Orchestra of Wales, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestras (Naxos) [5]

To be released in the coming months:

  • Alberto Ginastera, Excerpts from the opera "Don Rodrigo" (world premiere), Cantata Milena, Five Popular Argentine Songs (orchestral version of Cinco Canciones Populares Argentinas, op.10, by Shimon Cohen, world premiere), Santa Barbara Symphony, with Plácido Domingo, Virginia Tola and Ana Maria Martinez (EMI, Paris)

Personal life

Born and raised in Uruguay to a family of Polish parents, she studied at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel-Aviv and at the Yale School of Music before residing in the United States, where she lives with her husband and two sons. They became American citizens in 2000.

References

External links

This page was last modified 14.02.2014 01:33:46

This article uses material from the article Gisele Ben-Dor from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.