Acclaimed Portuguese conductor Joana Carneiro is Principal Guest Conductor of the Real Filharmonia de Galicia and Artistic Director of the Estágio Gulbenkian para Orquestra, a post she has held since 2013.
Joana Carneiro was Principal Conductor of the Orquestra Sinfonica Portuguesa at Teatro Sao Carlos in Lisbon from 2014 until January 2022. From 2009 to 2018 she was Music Director of Berkeley Symphony, succeeding Kent Nagano as only the third music director in the 40-year history of the orchestra. She was also official guest conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra from 2006 to 2018.
Joana is in high demand for her focus on contemporary music both in the concert hall and on the opera stage. Last season at English National Opera she conducted The Handmaid’s Tale after a highly acclaimed debut in London conducting the world stage premiere of John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, directed by Peter Sellars. With Scottish Opera she conducted Nixon in China and in Lisbon, Rake´s Progress. Other recent opera performances include A Wonderful Town (Royal Danish Opera), Simone's La Passion (Ojai Festival), Oedipus Rex (Sydney, Helpmann Award for Best Concert by the Symphony Orchestra) and A Flowering Tree (Vienna, Paris, Chicago, Cincinnati, Gothenburg, Lisbon).
Joana’s guest conducting highlights in recent and future seasons include engagements with prominent orchestras around the world, from BBC Symphony and Philharmonia in London, BBC Scottish and Scottish Chamber, National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland) to Royal Stockholm, Gothenburg, Finnish Radio, Helsinki Philharmonic, Brussels Philharmonic, Castilla y Leon, and La Venice in Europe. Further afield, she has performed with National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada, Los Angeles Philharmonic in the United States, Hong Kong Philharmonic and Beijing Orchestra in Asia, and Sao Paulo State Symphony in South America.
A native of Lisbon, she began her musical studies as a violist before receiving her conducting degree from the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra in Lisbon, followed by her Masters degree in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University.
Carneiro is the 2010 recipient of the Helen M. Thompson Award, conferred by the League of American Orchestras to recognize and honour music directors of exceptional promise. In 2004, Carneiro was decorated by the President of the Portuguese Republic, Mr. Jorge Sampaio, with the Commendation of the Order of the Infante Dom Henrique.
Highly regarded as a brilliant virtuoso with a rare balance between energy and expression, Yeol Eum Son performs all over the world as a soloist and in recital. She is also renowned for her creative and innovative programming and holds the position of Artistic Director of Music in PyeongChang, one of South Korea’s largest classical music festivals. Her concerto repertoire, which includes over 80 works, varies from Bach, the complete Mozart concertos, early German and Russian Romantic composers, and Gershwin and Salonen. She also regularly performs in a chamber music setting.
Yeol Eum Son’s rapidly emerging career has seen her perform with major orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and Bergen Philharmonic, and in recital at venues and series including Casa da Música in Porto, Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague, KKL in Luzerne, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the San Francisco Chamber Music Society. In the UK, she has performed at the BBC Proms and East Neuk Festival and with orchestras including CBSO, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Her critically-acclaimed discography includes recordings of Mozart’s Piano Concertos with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Sir Neville Marriner as well as solo works by Schumann and Kapustin, all on Onyx Classics.
The 2022-23 season sees Yeol Eum embark on a season-long residency at the Residentie Orkest in The Hague as well as the release of her first recording on the Naïve label in March 2023, the first installment of her complete recording cycle of Mozart's piano sonatas.
Since its debut in 1969, the National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra has been praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its visionary educational programs, and its prominent role in nurturing Canadian creativity. Under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra reflects the fabric and values of Canada, reaching and representing the diverse communities we live in with daring programming, powerful storytelling, inspiring artistry, and innovative partnerships.
Alexander Shelley began his tenure as Music Director in 2015, following Pinchas Zukerman’s 16 seasons at the helm. Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and former Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra (2009–2017), he has been in demand around the world, conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and Stockholm Philharmonic, among others, and maintains a regular relationship with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and the German National Youth Orchestra.
Each season, the NAC Orchestra features world-class artists such as the newly appointed Artist-in-Residence James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Joshua Bell, Xian Zhang, Gabriela Montero, Stewart Goodyear, Jan Lisiecki, and Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds. As one of the most accessible, inclusive, and collaborative orchestras in the world, the NAC Orchestra uses music as a universal language to communicate the deepest of human emotions and connect people through shared experiences.