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BIOGRAPHY

 

Praised for his “uncommonly expressive and detailed” performances by the Miami Herald and described as an “eloquent and decisive” conductor by The Wall Street Journal, Steven Jarvi is a conductor with an equal passion for the concert hall and the opera house. Mr. Jarvi is the Interim Artistic Director of Charlottesville Opera and recently completed his tenure as the Resident Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony and Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. He won the Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Award while the Associate Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony, and previously served as the Conducting Fellow with Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, an Associate Conductor for New York City Opera at Lincoln Center, and the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Conductor with the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center.

As Resident Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony, Jarvi conducted over 100 events, including Classical Subscription weekends, the Live at Powell Hall concert series, Family and Educational concerts, and other events throughout the season. He also assisted Music Director, David Robertson, and served as the Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra whose performances were recently featured on PBS.

While Associate Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony, Jarvi led over 150 concerts and performed during the opening season of the Kaufmann Center for the Performing Arts. He made his Classical Series debut filling in on short notice with Violinist, Midori. The following season, after studying in Vienna with principal members of the Vienna Philharmonic, Jarvi led a highly praised subscription weekend of Viennese music featuring pianist, Simone Dinnertstein.

As a guest conductor, Mr. Jarvi has appeared in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Recent engagements include Washington National Opera, Detroit Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, Orlando Philharmonic, Knoxville Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, The Florida Orchestra, Charleston Symphony, Southwest Florida Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Elgin Symphony and Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt, Germany. Jarvi has also performed with popular Grammy© Award-winners Idina Menzel, Art Garfunkel, Lyle Lovett, Chris Botti and Kenny G as well as performances with Ben Folds.

In the world of opera, Mr. Jarvi was personally selected by Plácido Domingo to be the first conductor ever invited to be a member of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at the Kennedy Center’s Washington National Opera and frequently collaborates with the finest singers in the world. Recent engagements include the world premieres of An American Soldier and Approaching Ali with Washington National Opera, Philip Glass' Orphée, La Traviata, Tosca, The Ballad of Baby Doe, Falstaff, Lucia di Lammermoor, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Die Zauberflöte, Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly, La Boheme, Susannah, and Cosi fan tutte with companies such as Virginia Opera, North Carolina Opera, Winter Opera Saint Louis, Baltimore Lyric Opera, and Charlottesville/Ash Lawn Opera Festival. Jarvi will return to Charlottesville to conduct Le Nozze di Figaro in the summer of 2018.

A frequent performer with the New World Symphony, Jarvi has shared subscription concerts in Miami Beach with Michael Tilson Thomas, conducted on the NWS Charles Ives: In Context Festival and lead their Concerts for Kids, and PULSE events. As an advocate of new music, he has collaborated with many celebrated composers including Philip Glass, Henri Dutilleux, John Adams, John Zorn, Augusta Read Thomas, Steven Mackey, Adam Schoenberg, Jennifer Higdon and Leon Kirchner; has conducted at Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music, and has led multiple performances at New York City Opera’s VOX Festival.

At the age of 21, Steven traveled to Austria at the invitation of Claudio Abbado for study with the maestro and the Berlin Philharmonic at the Salzburg Easter Festival. Former New York Philharmonic Music Director, Kurt Masur, later selected him to appear in a weeklong master class and concert. As the Seiji Ozawa Conducting Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Steven was one of two conductors selected to study under then Boston Symphony and Metropolitan Opera Music Director, James Levine, along with Kurt Masur, Stefan Asbury and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. While at Tanglewood, Jarvi conducted critically praised performances with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, and the Mark Morris Dance Group.

Raised in Grand Haven, Michigan, Steven Jarvi holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Theory from the University of Michigan where he studied with Kenneth Kiesler, Martin Katz and Jerry Blackstone, along with a Master's in Orchestral Conducting from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with the legendary conducting pedagogue, Gustav Meier.

POSITIONS:

ORCHESTRAL GUEST CONDUCTING:

ASSISTANT/COVER CONDUCTING:

 

Operatic Conducting:

Education:

  • Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University – M.M. cum laude Orchestral Conducting (2003) Received Masters in orchestral conducting studying with Gustav Meier
  • University of Michigan– B.M. with Honors (2000) Received a degree in Music Theory and an Artist Certificate in conducting while participating in the Artist and Scholars Honors Program, which selects only one student a year to create their own degree curriculum.  Included study with Kenneth Kiesler and Jerry Blackstone, Opera/Vocal Literature with Martin Katz.

 Awards and Honors:

  • Winner of the 2009 Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Award– corresponding Career Grant used for study with principal members of the Vienna Philharmonic in Vienna, Austria
  • Awarded Savarino Grant for study with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic
  • Awarded Peabody Career Development Grant for study of Italian language in Florence, Italy

 Festivals/Master Classes:

  • Seiji Ozawa Conducting Fellow- Tanglewood Music Center (Summer 2005) Teachers included: James Levine, Kurt Masur, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Stefan Asbury
  • Kurt Masur Conducting Seminar(Spring 2004) Selected by Maestro Masur to participate in a week long master class and appear with him on a concert
  • American Symphony Orchestra League Atlanta Workshop (Spring 2004) Teachers included: Robert Spano, Duain Wolfe, James Paul and Barbara Yahr