In Memoriam: JOEL REVZEN (1945-2020)

Aspire Lab staff

FESTIVAL NAPA VALLEY AND THE NAPA VALLEY COMMUNITY mourn the death of one of its most beloved musical figures, conductor Joel Revzen, who succumbed to complications caused by COVID at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York on Memorial Day, just a few weeks before his 75th birthday.

Maestro Revzen led a long, varied, and successful international career, spending much of the last 20 years at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he conducted some of the world’s greatest singers, including a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin with Anna Netrebko in a live radio broadcast in 2017.

In 2015, Joel met with Festival Napa Valley Vice President and Director of Artistic Planning Charles Letourneau to discuss bringing a group of Metropolitan Opera Orchestra musicians to Napa. “I still vividly remember that breakfast with Joel on that morning across from Lincoln Center, and it became one of our regular rituals,” remembers Letourneau. “I was excited about the prospect of having some of the top orchestral musicians in America at the Festival.” And thus, the all-star Festival Orchestra Napa was born, with a core of musicians from the MET along with top players from other leading orchestras around the world.

Joel Revzen was not only an esteemed conductor, he also had a deep commitment to the next generation of artists and music education. Shortly after graduating from the Juilliard School, he was appointed Dean of the St. Louis Conservatory of the Arts, where he remained for 13 years and was credited with greatly expanding its curriculum and performance programs.

At Festival Napa Valley, Joel became a faculty member of the Blackburn Music Academy, leading its students every summer in concerts, masterclasses, and workshops. In the words of one student last summer: “Joel is superb—I will happily play with him any time. He has incredible technique, and he is so kind and gracious.”

Joel’s career took him around the world, including Russia where he conducted the Russian National Orchestra which appeared many times at Festival Napa Valley. His last performance at Festival Napa Valley was the “Song to the Moon” concert on July 20, 2019, celebrating the anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on that very day 50 years earlier. It was a magical moment with San Francisco Classical Voice writing, “Conductor Joel Revzen perfectly paced and balanced the Festival Orchestra Napa … We departed this musical planetarium satisfied that both composers and performers had shown us all there was to hear.”

“This is how we will always remember Joel, with his brilliant and insightful performances showing us all there was to hear,” says Festival Napa Valley President and CEO Rick Walker. “His warmth, talent and friendship will be greatly missed.”

Festival Napa Valley is establishing the Joel Revzen Conducting Fellowship, which will be awarded every summer to a promising young conductor .

Joel Revzen at Festival Napa Valley Joel Revzen conducting Festival Napa Valley Orchestra