Kenneth Kiesler

Last updated

Kenneth Kiesler (born August 18, 1953) is an American symphony orchestra and opera conductor and mentor to conductors. Kiesler is conductor laureate of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra where he was music director from 1980 to 2000 and founder and director of the Conductors Retreat at Medomak. [1] In 2014, Kiesler was nominated for a Grammy Award for his recording of Darius Milhaud's opera L'Orestie d'Eschyle . [2] He is director of orchestras and professor of conducting at the University of Michigan. [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Kenneth Kiesler was born in New York City. His father, Harry Isiah Kiesler, was of Polish/Austrian descent and his mother, Rose Segal Kiesler, was of French and German descent. [4] He studied music from an early age; he played trumpet, sang in choruses and, at age 15, Kiesler conducted his first concert, Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols when the director took ill prior to the concert. [5] Kiesler graduated from Nanuet Senior High School in 1971.

Kiesler studied music at the University of New Hampshire where he received the Bachelor of Music cum laude in conducting and music history in 1975. [6] He received his master's degree in orchestra conducting in 1980 from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Johns Hopkins University. [7] At age 19, he conducted the first performance of Gershwin's original jazz-band score of Rhapsody in Blue since 1925, with permission of Ira Gershwin and Warner Brothers Music, which garnered national attention. [8] Kiesler was recipient of a conducting fellowship at the Aspen Music School [8] and his teachers and mentors have included Fiora Contino, Julius Herford, John Nelson, [8] Erich Leinsdorf, James Wimer, and Carlo Maria Giulini. [4]

Kiesler was a participant in the League of American Orchestras' 1990 Leonard Bernstein American Conductors Program with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center [9] and the 1991 Carnegie Hall Centenary conducting class with Pierre Boulez and Ensemble intercontemporain. [10]

Career

Kiesler is also a sought-after mentor and teacher to conductors. [11] The French music critic Roger Bouchard said of him, "There do exist great American conductors, and Kiesler is one of them! Standing on behalf of the music he serves, he conducts from memory with unaffected gestures both precise and passionate. Nothing is unnecessary in his conducting; yet everything is there. Very beautiful work!" [12]

Kiesler is the conductor of many acclaimed recordings on the Naxos, Dorian, Equilibrium and Pierian labels; with the BBC Singers in London, Third Angle New Music Ensemble, and both the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theatre. [13] Kiesler was nominated for a Grammy for his recording of Darius Milhaud's opera L'Orestie d'Eschyle which was nominated for Best Opera Recording in 2014. [2] This is the first recording of Milhaud's complete Orestiean Trilogy of Aeschylus based on a libretto of Paul Claudel. [14]

Kiesler has conducted many of the world's leading ensembles including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Washington's National Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Haifa Symphony Orchestra in Israel, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra in Japan, Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra and Pusan Symphony Orchestra in Korea, Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra in China, New Symphony Orchestra in Bulgaria, Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra in Mexico, OSESP in São Paulo, Brazil, Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra in San Juan, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Florida Symphony Orchestra, Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, Long Island Philharmonic Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Symphony Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Symphony Orchestra. [3] He has conducted at the Aspen, Atlantic, Breckenridge, Meadowbrook, Sewanee and Skaneateles music festivals. [3]

Kiesler served as music director of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra from 1980 to 2000, during which time he founded the Illinois Symphony Chorus, the Illinois Chamber Orchestra, and led debuts at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. [3] He was also assistant conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra from 1980 to 1983, [5] music director and conductor of the South Bend Symphony Orchestra from 1984 to 1988 and principal conductor of the Saint Cecilia Orchestra from 1992 to 1995. [15] From 2002 to 2007 Kiesler was music director of the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra. [6]

Kiesler has conducted Britten's Peter Grimes , Rossini's Il turco in Italia at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Orff's Carmina Burana at Syracuse Opera and Bright Sheng's The Silver River in Singapore [12] as well as operas of Menotti, Mozart, Puccini, Ravel, Stravinsky and Verdi among others. [12]

Kiesler's advocacy for new music and living composers has included conducting more than 15 world and American premieres [3] by composers James Aikman, Leslie Bassett, Paul Brantley, Evan Chambers, Sven Daigger, Gabriella Lena Frank, Aharon Harlap, James P. Johnson, Ben Johnston, Vítězslava Kaprálová, [16] Kristin Kuster, Stephen Rush, Gunther Schuller and Steven Stucky. [3] His notable premieres and new music performances include conducting the 1990 world premiere in Illinois and the New York premiere at Carnegie Hall of Gunther Schuller's Concerto for 2 Pianos, 3 Hands, which was written for pianists Lorin Hollander and Leon Fleisher, and performed with the Illinois Chamber Orchestra. [17] Kiesler conducted the U.S. premiere of Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 3 with pianist Anton Nel in 1997. [6] In 2002, he premiered the score reconstruction by James Dapogny of the opera De Organizer by James P. Johnson and Langston Hughes which was the first performance since 1940. [18] In 2006, he also conducted the world premiere of Johnson's The Dreamy Kid; libretto by Eugene O'Neill. [18] Kiesler conducted the world premiere of The Old Burying Ground a song cycle for soprano, tenor, folksinger and orchestra by Evan Chambers in 2007, which was subsequently recorded in 2008. [19]

Teacher

Since 1995, Kiesler has been professor of conducting and director of orchestras at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. [1] He is a sought after teacher and mentor of conductors internationally. [20] Kiesler has been director of conducting programs of international master classes Berlin since 2012. [3] From 2006 to 2012, he was the Director of the Conductors Programme of Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra. [12] He was director of the Vendome International Academy of Orchestral Conducting in Paris and Vendôme France from 2006 to 2010. [12] Kiesler directed the orchestras while serving as visiting artist and advisor in orchestral studies at the Manhattan School of Music from 2006 to 2010. [12]

Kiesler has led many conducting master classes in the United States and internationally, including for the League of American Orchestras, the Conductors' Guild, the Minister of Culture of Mexico, Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and for the Deutscher Musikrat in Germany, [13] as well as at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Oxford University, the Waterville Valley Music Center and in the cities of Chicago, Houston, Leipzig, Moscow, Rome, São Paulo and Salt Lake City. [3]

Kiesler's conducting students have won prizes in the Donatella Flick London Symphony Conducting Competition (Elim Chan), [21] Nikolai Malko Conducting Competition (Mei-Ann Chen), [22] Maazel-Vilar Conducting Competition (Joana Carneiro, Bundit Ungrangsee), [23] Eduardo Mata Conducting Competition (Yaniv Dinur), [24] and hold positions with orchestras, opera companies and educational institutions worldwide.

Kiesler is the founder and director of the Conductors Retreat at Medomak, [1] an annual, intensive program which develops conductors' artistic sensibilities and technical skills, as well as personal attributes and leadership capacity. It takes place at the site of the historic Medomak camp in Maine, where Kiesler himself spent many formative summers in his youth. [11] Since 1997 the Conductors Retreat at Medomak has attracted conductors from around the world for instruction in conducting, score study, aural skills and physical expression. [25]

Awards and recognitions

Kiesler has been awarded:

Publications

Kiesler contributed to the content in:

He is also included and referenced in:

Personal life

Kiesler is the father of three children, Laura, Adam and Aliyah. [31] He currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan. [4]

Selected discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlo Maria Giulini</span> Italian conductor

Carlo Maria Giulini was an Italian conductor. From the age of five, when he began to play the violin, Giulini's musical education was expanded when he began to study at Italy's foremost conservatory, the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome at the age of 16. Initially, he studied the viola and conducting; then, following an audition, he won a place in the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard Slatkin</span> American conductor, author and composer (born 1944)

Leonard Edward Slatkin is an American conductor, author and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seiji Ozawa</span> Japanese conductor (1935–2024)

Seiji Ozawa was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After conducting the Vienna New Year's Concert in 2002, he was director of the Vienna State Opera until 2010. In Japan, he founded the Saito Kinen Orchestra in 1984, their festival in 1992, and the Tokyo Opera Nomori in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Conlon</span> American conductor

James Conlon is an American conductor. He is currently the music director of Los Angeles Opera and principal conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marin Alsop</span> American conductor

Marin Alsop is an American conductor, the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and chief conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Ravinia Festival, and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2008 and to the American Philosophical Society in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iván Fischer</span> Hungarian conductor and composer

Iván Fischer is a Hungarian conductor and composer.

Hans Graf is an Austrian conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristjan Järvi</span> Estonian conductor and composer

Kristjan Järvi is an Estonian American conductor, composer and producer. Born in Tallinn, Estonia, he is the younger son of the conductor Neeme Järvi and brother of conductor Paavo Järvi and flutist Maarika Järvi.

Michael Christie is a Grammy-winning American conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JoAnn Falletta</span> American conductor

JoAnn Falletta is an American conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yannick Nézet-Séguin</span> Canadian conductor and pianist

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, CC 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.

Jun Märkl is a German conductor. He was chief conductor at the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Eduardo Diazmuñoz is a highly prolific Mexican-Spanish-American conductor, composer and arranger, performer and educator. He studied piano, cello, percussion, and conducting at the National Conservatory of Music (Mexico). In 1978, 1979 he became associate conductor of the newly founded the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra. Bernstein invited him to Tanglewood in 1979. He assisted in preparation for concertos of Leonard Bernstein and Eduardo Mata. In 1980-1982 assisted Léon Barzin in Paris.

Gustav Meier was a Swiss-born conductor and director of the Orchestra Conducting Program at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He was also Music Director of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut, for more than 40 years (1972–2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gisele Ben-Dor</span> Israeli-American orchestra conductor

Gisèle Ben-Dor is a Uruguayan-American-Israeli orchestra conductor.

Keitaro Harada is a Japanese conductor and music and artistic director of Savannah Philharmonic, Permanent Conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Partner for the Aichi Chamber Orchestra. In May 2024 he was announced as the incoming Music and Artistic Director Designate for the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Harada is a former Associate Conductor of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Arizona Opera, Richmond Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of Sierra Vista Symphony Orchestra. He has been Music Director & Conductor of the Phoenix Youth Symphony, Assistant Conductor of Macon Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, he was featured in the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview by the League of American Orchestras. In 2023, he received The Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award from the Solti Foundation U.S. On May 30, 2024, Harada was announced as the new Music and Artistic Director Designate for the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra in Dayton, Ohio beginning with the 2024-2025 season, officially taking the helm as the orchestra's new leader beginning July 1, 2025.

Julianna Di Giacomo is an American operatic soprano who has had an active international singing career since 1999. She has performed leading roles with several major opera houses, including La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, the Opéra-Comique in Paris, and the Teatro Real in Madrid. On the concert stage she has appeared with several notable orchestras, including the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Opera Orchestra of New York, and the Vienna Philharmonic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black conductors</span>

Black conductors are musicians of African, Caribbean, African-American ancestry and other members of the African diaspora who are musical ensemble leaders who direct classical music performances, such as an orchestral or choral concerts, or jazz ensemble big band concerts by way of visible gestures with the hands, arms, face and head. Conductors of African descent are rare, as the vast majority are male and Caucasian.

<i>LOrestie dEschyle</i> Opera by Darius Milhaud

L'Orestie d'Eschyle is a French-language opera by Darius Milhaud based on The Oresteia triptych by Aeschylus in a French translation by his collaborator Paul Claudel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marios Papadopoulos (musician)</span> British conductor (born 1954)

Marios Papadopoulos is a Cypriot-born, British conductor and pianist. He is the founder and music director of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra in Residence at the University of Oxford.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "An Interview with Kenneth Kiesler". Milken Archive of Jewish Music. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "57th Annual Grammy Awards Winners & Nominees". Grammy.com. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Kenneth Kiesler, Bios, Pictures, Albums". Naxos Records. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Kenneth Kiesler". Los Angeles Conducting Workshop. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Brown, Steven (January 20, 1993). "The FSO Search Kiesler Led Springfield Growth". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "Making music with Kenneth Kiesler". New Hampshire Business Review . November 14, 2003. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Johns Hopkins University Commencement 1980". The Johns Hopkins University. 1971. Retrieved October 19, 2015– via Internet Archive.
  8. 1 2 3 Goodfellow, William (December 1, 1996). "Kiesler Sees Symphony as Orchestra with a Future". Deseret News . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  9. ↑ Carrington, Mark (June 16, 1990). "NSO 3 Young Conductors". The Washington Post . Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  10. ↑ Schwarz, K. Robert (February 17, 1991). "Classical Music; A Mellowed Polemicist Retains His Edge". The New York Times . Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  11. 1 2 Schiff, David. "Conducting: A Backwoods Guide". The Atlantic . No. April 2002. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Faculty/Staff Kenneth Kiesler". School of Music, Theatre & Dance. University of Michigan. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  13. 1 2 "Kenneth Kiesler: Conductor and Mentor of Conductors". International Masterclasses Berlin. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  14. ↑ Clements, Andrew (August 27, 2014). "Milhaud: L'Orestie d'Eschyle review – an operatic curiosity worth investigating". The Guardian . Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  15. ↑ Kozinn, Allan (February 4, 1995). "Albany Orchestra Visits Its Big-City Cousins". The New York Times . Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  16. ↑ "The Centenary Year". Kapralova Society . Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  17. ↑ Pincus, Andrew (January 21, 1990). "Music; Two Pianos, Three Hands and One Composer". The New York Times . Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  18. 1 2 Harewood, G. H. H. L. E. (2006). "(review)". Opera . Vol. 57, no. 7–12. pp. 1216–1217. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  19. ↑ "New York Premier of The Old Burying Ground". Michigan Muse. Vol. 1–2. University of Michigan. School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Fall 2007. pp. 8–11. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  20. ↑ Kenneth Kiesler at AllMusic
  21. ↑ Tilden, Imogen (December 9, 2014). "Elim Chan wins 2014 Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition". The Guardian . Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Mei-Ann Chen". Music at Michigan. Vol. 38, no. 2. University of Michigan, School of Music. Spring 2005. p. 14. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  23. ↑ Blumenthal, Ralph (September 30, 2002). "And Then There Were Two; Prize Is Shared in Conductors' Competition". The New York Times . Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Rebecca Miller Wins First Prize in the Eduardo Mata International Conducting Competition". classicalsource.com. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Conducting". Conductors Retreat at Medomak. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  26. ↑ Emblen, Frank (September 7, 1986). "Mr. Kiesler, winner of the 1986 Leopold Stokowski Conducting Competition". New Jersey Guide. The New York Times . Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  27. 1 2 "Governor's Awards Slated". Springfield, Illinois: The State Journal-Register. November 12, 1987. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  28. ↑ Henken, John (January 14, 1989). "Kiesler Tries Out His Baton at Long Beach". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  29. ↑ "House Resolution 759". State of Illinois House Journal (121): 18–19. April 12, 2000. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  30. ↑ "Winner in Orchestral Performance/Conducting". theamericanprize.blogspot.com. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  31. ↑ "Rose Segal Kiesler – obituary". The New York Times . February 27, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.