ÂÜÀòÂÒÂ×

In 2017, GRAMMY® Award-winning conductor Roberto Minczuk was appointed Music Director of the New Mexico Philharmonic and of the Theatro Municipal Orchestra of São Paulo. He is also Music Director Laureate of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (Canada) and Conductor Emeritus of the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira (Rio de Janeiro). In Calgary, he recently completed a 10-year tenure as Music Director, becoming the longest-running Music Director in the orchestra’s history.

Highlights of Minczuk’s recent seasons include the complete Mahler Symphony Cycle with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra; Bach’s St. John Passion, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, Beethoven’s Fidelio, Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Verdi’s La traviata, Bernstein’s Mass, and Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier with the Theatro Municipal Orchestra of São Paulo; debuts with the Cincinnati Opera (Mozart’s Don Giovanni), the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and Daejeon Philharmonic in South Korea; and return engagements with the Orchestra National de Lille and the New York City Ballet. In the 2016/2017 season, he made return visits to the Israel Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Teatro Colón Philharmonic and Orchestra Estable of Buenos Aires.

A protégé and close colleague of the late Kurt Masur, Minczuk debuted with the New York Philharmonic in 1998, and by 2002 was Associate Conductor, having worked closely with both Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel. He has since conducted more than 100 orchestras worldwide, including the New York, Los Angeles, Israel, London, Tokyo, Oslo, and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestras; the London, San Francisco, Dallas, and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras; and the National Radio (France), Philadelphia, and Cleveland Orchestras, among many others. In March 2006, he led the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s U.S. tour, winning accolades for his leadership of the orchestra in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Until 2010, Minczuk held the post of Music Director and Artistic Director of the Opera and Orchestra of the Theatro Municipal Rio de Janeiro, and, until 2005, he served as Principal Guest Conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, where he previously held the position of Co-Artistic Director. Other previous posts include Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Ribeirão Preto Symphony, Principal Conductor of the Brasília University Symphony, and a six-year tenure as Artistic Director of the Campos do Jordão International Winter Festival.

Minczuk’s recording of the complete Bachianas Brasileiras of Hector Villa-Lobos with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (BIS label) won the Gramophone Award of Excellence in 2012 for best recording of this repertoire. His other recordings include Danzas Brasileiras, which features rare works by Brazilian composers of the 20th century, and the Complete Symphonic Works of Antonio Carlos Jobim, which won a Latin GRAMMY in 2004 and was nominated for an American GRAMMY in 2006. His three recordings with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra include Rhapsody in Blue: The Best of George Gershwin and Beethoven Symphonies 1, 3, 5, and 8. Other recordings include works by Ravel, Piazzolla, Martin, and Tomasi with the London Philharmonic (released by Naxos), and four recordings with the Academic Orchestra of the Campos do Jordão International Winter Festival, including works by Dvořák, Mussorgsky, and Tchaikovsky. Other projects include a 2010 DVD recording with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, featuring the premiere of Hope: An Oratorio, composed by Jonathan Leshnoff; a 2011 recording with the Odense Symphony of Poul Ruders’s Symphony No. 4, which was featured as a Gramophone Choice in March 2012; and a recording of Tchaikovsky’s Italian Capriccio with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, which accompanied the June 2010 edition of BBC Music Magazine. The Academic Orchestra of the Campos do Jordão Festival was the Carlos Gomes prizewinner for its recording from the 2005 Festival, which also garnered the TIM Award for best classical album.

Roberto Minczuk has received numerous awards, including a 2004 Emmy for the program New York City Ballet—Lincoln Center Celebrates Balanchine 100; a 2001 Martin E. Segal Award that recognizes Lincoln Center’s most promising young artists; and several honors in his native country of Brazil, including two best conductor awards from the São Paulo Association of Art Critics and the coveted title of Cultural Personality of the Year. In 2009, he was awarded the Medal Pedro Ernesto, the highest commendation of the City of Rio de Janeiro, and in 2010, he received the Order of the Ipiranga State Government of São Paulo. In 2017, Minczuk received the Medal of Commander of Arts and Culture from the Brazilian government.

A child prodigy, Minczuk was a professional musician by the age of 13. He was admitted into the prestigious Juilliard School at 14 and by the age of 16, he had joined the Orchestra Municipal de São Paulo as solo horn. During his Juilliard years, he appeared as soloist with the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic Young People’s Concerts series. Upon his graduation in 1987, he became a member of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra at the invitation of Kurt Masur. Returning to Brazil in 1989, he studied conducting with Eleazar de Carvalho and John Neschling.