Biography
The Beginning
When I look back at where I started, I consider myself a very lucky and blessed person. Music was at home—making music was a part of my every-day life. My mother directed a chorus for the Peruvian Airline (Aeroperu) and my sister played the guitar. I, on the other hand, took piano lessons, but I wasn’t good at practicing, and neither did I like the idea of playing anything by myself. Both my sister and I were members of my mom’s choir and members of her dance troupe as well, dancing to Peruvian folk music.
My life changed when I was fifteen years old and started working in the Municipal Theater in Lima, assisting Luigi Alva during the opera season. I liked the backstage area and loved listening to so many operas and operettas (that’s why my passion for the vocal repertoire is so great). At one point when we were doing Tosca, I had gone to sit in the house during a dress rehearsal, toward the end of Act I. The conductor turned around and saw me sitting there watching the rehearsal, and he asked if I could conduct the remaining of Act I (from "tre sbirri una carroza…") right then and there. This sounded fine and fun at the same time, and without hesitation I replied YES (a sign of ignorance of my part, I should add). Everything went fine and Act I concluded without any problems. This event is really what made me realize that I could and wanted to learn how to become a conductor.
From Peru to America (1987)
After a short trip to Chile in 1987, where I met Maritza, my wife (I was only 19 then), I went to America and got accepted at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School. It was a nice dilemma to have to choose from the two schools. But my teacher and mentor Otto-Werner Mueller encouraged me to plan to study for a long time, and so it was arranged that I would do my Bachelor’s degree in Conducting at Curtis (1991) and my Master’s in Conducting at Juilliard (1993).
To backtrack a little, prior to going to take the conducting auditions in the USA; I was invited to conduct the National Orchestra of Peru during their summer season. My first professional engagement and I hadn’t gone to conducting school (another sign of ignorance of my part)! Things went well, and off I went to take the auditions.
While I was a student in Philadelphia and New York, I went back to Peru to guest-conduct the National Symphony, and took up the job of Music Director of the Norwalk Youth Symphony in Connecticut, with whom I made my Carnegie Hall debut in 1993.
Over the years I have maintained a relationship with both Curtis and Juilliard, mainly as a guest conductor and on tour with the Juilliard Orchestra to France and Japan.
First Professional Appointments (1993)
After graduating from Juilliard in 1993, I landed the jobs of Music Director of the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall, Conducting faculty member at Juilliard, and Staff Conductor with the New York Philharmonic.
During my four years with the Youth Symphony, not only did I get the opportunity to learn and try out a lot of symphonic repertoire and new compositions that we commissioned, but I also got to work with great soloists like Joshua Bell, Misha Dichter, Eugenia Zukerman, and David Shifrin, among others. My post as Staff Conductor with the NY Philharmonic led to my debut with the orchestra on a very last minute notice, replacing Leonard Slatkin, who had gotten stuck on a train between Washington and New York (he actually got stuck at Newark). It was clear that Maestro Slatkin was not going to be on time—at least for the start of the concert—and I was asked to change clothes rather quickly and begin the concert conducting Richard Danielpour’s “Towards the splendid city,” which was a brand new piece.
Peru: Orquesta Filarmónica de Lima and Compañía Contemporánea de Opera (1993-1998)
In 1993, some friends and I founded the Asociacion Musical Renacimiento and created the Orquesta Filarmonica de Lima and the Compañía Contemporánea de Opera. Some of the titles we presented included "Le Nozze di Figaro," "La Cambiale di Matrimonio," "Il Signor Bruschino," "Gianni Schicchi," "Xerxes," and Puccini’s "La Boheme." We also produced "The Merry Widow" with Juan Diego Florez, when he was still a student at Curtis. With the Filarmonica we presented quite a bit of Peruvian compositions, many of which were premieres, like Celso Garrido-Lecca’s Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra and Enrique Iturriaga’s "De la lirica campesina".
First Recording Project (1994)
In 1994, Ernesto Palacio was working with the Compañía Contemporánea de Opera in a Rossini Festival. Juan Diego Florez was visiting Lima during his summer break, and they met for the first time in my home. Shortly after this production, Ernesto Palacio called Juan Diego and me, asking us to come to Italy in a couple a months. He needed a secondary tenor and a conductor for a production and recording of “Il Tutore Burlato” by Vicente Martin y Soler. This was a revival of a piece that was lost for about 200 years and was found in Spain. The recording is still out and is with the Bongiovanni label (fun to listen to).
Eugene Symphony (Oregon) and Auckland Philharmonia (New Zealand)
I went to Auckland to guest conduct for the first time in 1995, and I fell in love with that place instantly. My program included a premiere of Helen Bowater, a New Zealander, and Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration, among other pieces. After this engagement I was reengaged to come back every year, sometimes for up to 4 weeks in a row. (Of course, other activities like fly-fishing and sailing were part of my agenda “down under,” but certainly the musical experience was also quite fulfilling!) My relationship with the Auckland Philharmonia went on quite well and I was appointed Music Director in 2000, position which I held until December of 2005.
In 1996, parallel to this, I was appointed Music Director of the Eugene Symphony in Oregon, succeeding Marin Alsop. Both orchestras taught me a lot in developing as a music director and a leader in general, and also in how to use judgment in the best possible ways. My repertoire grew a lot, and I got very accustomed to doing premieres. With the Auckland Philharmonia I produced two recordings, one out of a live concert (Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with Michael Houston and selections from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”), and the other one including various pieces related to the America’s Cup held in New Zealand in 2003.
Los Angeles Philharmonic (1998-2004)
In the midst of commuting back and forth between Eugene and Auckland, I went to conduct the LA Philharmonic in a family concert. This invitation led to my appointment first as Assistant Conductor (just for a few months), and then as Associate Conductor. I couldn’t have been more honored than when I met Esa-Pekka Salonen, and he told me that that the musicians and staff were so supportive of my work that he didn’t need to see me conduct to offer me those appointments! During my six years with the LA Phil I did many subscription concerts, both at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Walt Disney Concert Hall, and at the Hollywood Bowl during the summer. Esa-Pekka has been a great supporter of my conducting and has had no reservations about what I should be conducting with the Philharmonic. My relationship with the LA Phil is so special to me because this orchestra has seen me develop as a conductor, and its members have always been very kind to me and helpful towards my conducting--so much so that I have been invited to return each year to conduct, both at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.
The Year 2000
This was the best year of my life: I married my best friend Maritza. Our wedding took place in Monterey, California in June, and we took beautiful pictures of us by the ocean.
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (2000- )
After three times as a guest conductor with the Fort Worth Symphony, I was appointed Music Director in the fall of 2000. One of my visits to Fort Worth was as assistant conductor with the New York Philharmonic on a US domestic tour. Also here, as in Auckland and Eugene, I felt a strong connection from the very beginning. My first concerts in Fort Worth were for students, the next during the summer season at the Botanic Gardens, and my last visit as a guest was during the subscription series. This really shows that every kind of concert is important, not only to the orchestra and the conductor, but to our audiences. Speaking of which, our audiences in Fort Worth have been so great that I have been able to be extremely creative with the content of our programs. Our audiences get to hear all: the old, the new, the short and the long. Our home is Bass Hall, which to me is one of the greatest halls in the world. And our musicians…the best!
Of course, I cannot talk about Fort Worth without mentioning the three most important events that have happened since we moved here: the births of our children, Elena (born in October, 2001) and Emilio (born in May, 2005), and Elisa (born in September, 2006) - three true Texans.
ORCHESTRAS GUEST CONDUCTED
In the USA:
New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, National Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Seattle Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Puerto Rico Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Juilliard Orchestras, San Diego Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Florida Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Annapolis Symphony, Monterey Symphony (CA), Evansville Philharmonic
In Canada:
Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Quebec Symphony
In Latin America:
Mexico National Symphony, Orquesta de la Universidad de México, Orquesta del Estado de México, Sao Paulo State Orchestra, National Orchestra of Perú, Orchestra of San Pedro Sula (Honduras), Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica de La Plata
In Europe, Scandinavia and beyond:
Munich Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra (Hessischer Rundfunk), Hamburg Radio Orchestra (NDR), Bamberger Sinfoniker, Cologne Philharmonic (WDR), Bundesjugendorchester (National German Youth Orchestra), London Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Royal National Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, National Orchestra of Spain, Helsinki Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, Adelaide Symphony, Canberra Symphony
OPERAS
Canadian Opera Company Barber of Seville (2008)
Minnesota Opera (September 2007) A Masked Ball
Minnesota Opera (Fall of 2005) Tosca
Santa Fe Opera (July/August, 2005)
Ainadamar (Osvaldo Golijov)
Juilliard Opera Center
Il Viaggio a Reims, Abelard and Heloise (world premiere by Stephen Paulus), Oedipus Rex and Le Rossignol
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
The Magic Flute (August, 2006)
Eugene Onegin, Rusalka (August, 2005)
Auckland Philarmonia
Pagliacci
Compañía Contemporánea de Opera (Perú)
Marriage of Figaro, Il Signor Bruschino, La Cambiale di Matrimonio, Xerxes, Merry Widow, La Boheme
Prolirica (Perú)
La Sonnambula
Curtis Opera
Postcard from Morocco (Argento), Le Rossignol (2006)
Center of Vocal Arts (Belgium) and National Theater in Prague
La tragedie de Carmen (Bizet/Peter Brooks)
Music Festival of Gerace (Italy)
Il Tutore Burlato (Vicente Martin y Soler)
FESTIVALS
Tanglewood, Aspen, Ravinia, Hollywood Bowl, Blossom, Grant Park, Round Top (Texas), Avanti (Finland), Adelaide, BBC Proms, Oregon Bach, Music Academy of the West
AWARDS
2000: Emmy Award
2002: Seaver/NEA Conductors Award
2004: Artists Medal, given by the Peruvian Government
1993: William Schuman Award
Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Photo courtesy of Van Lente
UPCOMING ENGAGEMENTS
Minnesota Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Residentie Orkest (Netherlands), Chicago Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Toronto Opera Company, Baltimore Symphony