May Festival Music Director James Conlon Among 2009 Hall of Fame Inductees
CINCINNATI, OH, 11/09 – The Board of Trustees of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame has announced that May Festival Music Director James Conlon is one of the slate of inductees for 2009. Other inductees include composer John Adams, international violinist Midori, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the League of American Orchestras.
James Conlon is the music director of the Los Angeles Opera, Ravinia Music Festival in Chicago, and the Cincinnati May Festival. One of today's preeminent conductors, Mr. Conlon has appeared as guest conductor with virtually every major North American and European orchestra and has been a frequent guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera for over thirty years. In 2009, Mr. Conlon won two Grammy Awards: Best Classical Recording and Best Opera Album, for conducting LA Opera’s production of Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. He also has extensively recorded for EMI, SONY Classical, ERATO, CAPRICCIO, and TELARC, for which he has received numerous citations. In 2009, Mr. Conlon also celebrated 30 years of artistic leadership as Music Director of the Cincinnati May Festival, the oldest continuous choral music festival in North America and the Western Hemisphere.
John Adams is one of American’s more admired and respected composers and conductors, where his operatic and symphonic works stand out among contemporary classical compositions. In 2003, Adams received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music for On the Transmigration of Souls. He has been awarded honorary degrees and proclamations by Cambridge University, Harvard University and Northwestern University, where he was given an honorary doctorate and the first Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition. Adams’s much praised autobiography Hallelujah Junction (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) was named one of the “most notable books” of 2008 by the New York Times.
Violinist Midori blends an ambitious international performance schedule with innovative community engagement initiatives, both at home and abroad. Born in Japan in 1971, she received her first lessons from her mother. In 1982 she was invited by Maestro Zubin Mehta as a guest soloist for the New York Philharmonic's traditional New Year's Eve concert, where she received a standing ovation and the impetus to begin a major career. In 2007 Midori was designated an official U.N. Messenger of Peace by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who cited her community engagement work as a model of exemplary commitment to worldwide goals shared by the U.N. Currently, Midori holds the prestigious Jascha Heifetz Chair at the University of Southern California.
In its second century, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra enjoys an enviable position in the music world with performances greeted by enthusiastic audiences both at home and abroad. Some of its principal guest conductors have been Pierre Boulez (currently Conductor Emeritus), Carlo Maria Giulini and Claudio Abbado. Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. Since 1916, the Orchestra has amassed a discography numbering more than 900. Recordings by the CSO have earned 58 Grammy Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences— more than any other orchestra in the world. Today, the CSO maintains an active presence on the international scene, with performances in world capitals including London, Vienna, Tokyo and New York City.
The League of American Orchestras leads, encourages, supports and serves orchestras as they assure the vitality of the musical experience, strengthen their organizations, and deepen their connections with their public and their communities. Founded in 1942, the League serves more than 900 member symphony, chamber, youth, and university orchestras of all sizes, and supports a network of thousands of administrators, board members, musicians, conductors, volunteers, and business partners. Under the leadership of president and CEO Jesse Rosen, the League has launched new initiatives in research and development, advocacy and communications, and learning and leadership development that are enhancing orchestras’ ability to adapt to changing environments.
The American Classical Music Hall of Fame, a national institution, is dedicated to honoring and celebrating the many facets of American classical music. The Hall of Fame seeks to recognize those who have made significant contributions to American classical music and by doing so aspires to sustain and build interest in American classical music. Inductees to the Hall of Fame are nominated by a specialist field of musicians, music educators, leaders in the music industry and its living inductees. Nominations are made in six categories: composer, conductor, performer, educator, performing ensemble and institution devoted to music. Nominations are reviewed by the distinguished National Artistic Directorate members who recommend a final slate for endorsement by the Board of Trustees of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.
