Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Yannick Nézet-Séguin is currently in his tenth season as Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Additionally, he became the third music director in the history of New York’s Metropolitan Opera in August 2018. Widely recognised for his musicianship, dedication, and charisma, he has established himself as a world-class principal conductor and one of the most thrilling talents of his generation. His collaborative rehearsal style, musical curiosity and enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike.

Nézet-Séguin has been artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000, and in summer 2017 he became the third-ever honorary member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He was music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic from 2008 to 2018 (he is now the ensemble’s honorary conductor) and was principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic from 2008 to 2014. His critically acclaimed performances, including at New York's Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera, La Scala in Milan, London's Royal Opera House, the Netherlands Opera, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and the Salzburg Festival, demonstrate his broad artistic range.

He works closely with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He also regularly conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Staatskapellen Berlin and Dresden, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and all the major Canadian orchestras.

In 2018, Nézet-Séguin signed an exclusive contract with the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG) label. His upcoming recordings include projects with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Orchestre Métropolitain. His recordings with the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest and the London Philharmonic Orchestra have appeared on numerous other labels.

A native of Montreal, Nézet-Séguin studied piano, conducting, composition, and chamber music at Montreal’s Conservatory of Music and continued his studies with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini; he also studied choral conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Nézet-Séguin was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2012, one of the country’s highest civilian honors; Companion to the Order of Arts and Letters of Quebec in 2015; an Officer of the Order of Quebec in 2015; and an Officer of the Order of Montreal in 2017. He has also received honorary doctorates from the University of Québec in Montreal, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey, and the University of Pennsylvania, among others.

As of August 2022