Yannick Nézet-Séguin : a meeting of great musical minds

His name is on everyone’s lips, even more so since he won his fourth Grammy for the album Blanchard: Champion, composed by Terence Blanchard and performed by The Metropolitan Opera. Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been splitting his time between the United States and Quebec for over ten years, but this spring, his two musical families are finally getting to meet. The Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain answers our questions!

The Orchestre Métropolitain (OM) will be making its way to the United States, with an invitation to perform at prestigious Carnegie Hall on March 6. What does this mean for the musicians?

Yannick Nézet-Séguin: An invitation to Carnegie Hall is not something you decline! This will be the Orchestre Métropolitain’s second tour in the United States, after it began touring in Europe in 2017. On its tours, the OM has met with overwhelming success, which reflects on Montreal. Audiences everywhere are charmed by the OM’s unique personality on the global cultural landscape.

We will finally get to meet your American family—the Philadelphia Orchestra—on April 19 at the Maison symphonique. What makes this appearance a must-see?

Y. N.-S.: The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the greatest orchestras in the world (one of the “Big Five”). It’s not every day you get a chance to hear one of these ensembles in Montreal.

The program reflects what this orchestra does best: a symphony by composer Florence Price, two of whose symphonies we recorded for an album that won us a Grammy in 2022; along with Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, for which the composer had the characteristic sound of the Philadelphia Orchestra in mind when he composed this work in the early 20^th century.

What is the Philadelphia Orchestra famous for?

Y. N.-S.: The famous “Philadelphia sound,” characterized by the richness of its string sections. The Philadelphia Orchestra has left its mark on the history of symphonic music. At its helm have been some of the world’s greatest conductors—Eugene Ormandy, Leopold Stokowski, Riccardo Muti—and the Orchestra’s recordings with them have set the standards.

The Orchestra has also helped democratize symphonic music, by recording the soundtrack for Disney's Fantasia, for example, and by taking part in the first-ever national telecast of a symphonic concert on CBS.

How has your relationship with the Orchestra’s musicians evolved over 12 years?

Y. N.-S.: From the beginning, it was love at first sight between the musicians and me. Our chemistry is so strong that we’ve built on it to dig deeper and evolve the sound palette. Under my leadership for twelve years, the Orchestra has returned to the quality and luster of its past sound, applied to a greater variety of repertoire, particularly contemporary repertoire.

You occasionally let others conduct the OM, like Nicolas Ellis, whose career is taking off. Is there a community spirit among conductors?

Y. N.-S.: It is a great source of pride for me to see Nicolas flourish, after having watched him evolve over the last few years while he was an artistic collaborator at the OM. His successor, Naomi Woo, will certainly experience the same ascent. I have known her for a few years, as she was part of the Orchestral Conducting Academy the OM started, allowing young conductors to progress and gain experience. It’s a project that’s very near and dear to me because I really enjoy guiding the future generation. The Academy provides these conductors with an opportunity to share their experience and support each other. As a conductor, you are always surrounded by musicians, but you rarely meet others who share the same profession as you. The Academy helps to create this “community spirit”.

Introduce us to conductor Glass Marcano, who will lead the OM for the show Under Marcano’s Sun in May and tell us how important it is for you to make room for women.

Y. N.-S.: Those who attend the concert she will conduct on May 17 at the OM will be very proud in a few years to say they were in attendance when this great conductor made her debut.

Her story is almost a fairy tale. She studied music in Venezuela’s El Sistema program and signed up for La Maestra in Paris, a conducting competition open only to young women. After overcoming a series of obstacles to pay her entry fee and travel to France, in the middle of the pandemic, she won the orchestra’s Special Prize.

In my opinion, we can’t just wait for there to be as many women as men in this profession, we need to shake things up. Young female musicians need to see female conductors on the podium to consider a career in conducting.

With all your commitments, your schedule must be a real puzzle... How do you manage to balance all your roles?

Y. N.-S.: If I ever retire, I will banish the word “schedule” from my existence! I believe that the secret to successfully balancing everything is to be in the moment. That’s how I can really concentrate on what I need to do. If I were thinking about everything that’s coming up or rehashing the past, I’d never be able to do it. You also need to be surrounded by very good people… and I am.

You’ve worked in cinema and dance over the last year, are there any other collaborations to look forward to?

Y. N.-S.: It is part of the OM’s DNA to join forces with other art forms. It’s often a challenge to learn how to combine our different spheres, but we always emerge having grown and feeling artistically nourished.

I can't share too many details, but let’s say there is a great partnership coming up with the theatre world... among other things.