Louis Langrée

French conductor Louis Langrée, Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Chief Conductor of the Camerata Salzburg and Music Director of the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center in New York, received the Chevalier dans l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur on Wednesday 6 January 2016, following his performance at David Geffen Hall (formerly Avery Fisher Hall), Lincoln Center, New York, with the CSO. Founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, the Legion of Honour is the highest French national distinction, similar to knighthood. It was awarded to Langrée in 2014, and was formally presented to him at a reception and ceremony following the performance. The concert was part of the fiftieth anniversary season of the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center.

The CSO performed Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and First Piano Concerto with soloist Alexander Gavrylyuk. This same all-Tchaikovsky program with Gavrylyuk was presented at Cincinnati's Music Hall in November 2014, thrilling audiences and inspiring critics to say that the 'orchestra has never sounded better' (Cincinnati Enquirer). Langrée's position as Renée and Robert Belfer Music Director of the Mostly Mozart Festival and Orchestra - a major component of Lincoln Center's summer festival - has earned the respect and praise of New York's critics and audiences.

'I am so very honored, proud and excited to be taking the CSO to Lincoln Center', Langrée commented. 'Very few American orchestras are invited to this series, so it's quite an honor and privilege to expand our role as Cincinnati's ambassador in this way.'

During the 2015/16 season, concerts with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will include a Brahms Festival and three world premiere Concertos for Orchestra by Sebastian Currier, Thierry Escaich and Zhou Tian. With the Camerata Salzburg, Langrée will tour Germany, and other guest engagements include the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (opening their annual Mendelssohn Festival) and performances of Così fan tutte with the Freiburger Barockorchester at the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

Langrée has worked with many other orchestras around the world including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Santa Cecilia in Rome, Sao Paulo, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Budapest Festival orchestras. Festival appearances have included Wiener Festwochen, Salzburg Mozartwoche and Whitsun, BBC Proms and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He has held positions as Music Director of the Orchestre de Picardie (1993-98) and Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (2001-06).

Louis Langrée was Music Director of Opéra National de Lyon (1998-2000) and Glyndebourne Touring Opera (1998-2003). He has also conducted at La Scala, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra Comique, Opéra-Bastille and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dresden Staatsoper, Grand Théâtre in Geneva and the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam.

His first commercial recording with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra features Copland's A Lincoln Portrait (narrated by Dr Maya Angelou) and world premieres by Nico Muhly and David Lang. His recordings have received several awards from Gramophone and Midem Classical. He was previously appointed Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2006.

Information: www.cincinnatisymphony.org

Posted: 10 January 2016

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