ABOUT ROBERT SPANO

Spano leads the Fort Worth Symphony in six symphonic programs, three chamber music programs, and a gala concert with Yo-Yo Ma, in addition to overseeing the orchestra and music staff and shaping the artistic direction of the orchestra and driving its continued growth. Additional engagements in the 2022-23 season include a return to Houston Grand Opera to conduct Werther.

Robert Spano, conductor, pianist, composer, and teacher, is known worldwide for the intensity of his artistry and distinctive communicative abilities, creating a sense of inclusion and warmth among musicians and audiences that is unique among American orchestras. After twenty seasons as Music Director, he will continue his association with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as Music Director Laureate. An avid mentor to rising artists, he is responsible for nurturing the careers of numerous celebrated composers, conductors, and performers. As Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2011, he oversees the programming of more than 300 events and educational programs for 630 students and young performers. Principal Guest Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since 2019, Spano became Music Director Designate on April 1, 2021, and begins an initial three-year term as Music Director in August 2022. He is the tenth Music Director in the orchestra’s history, which was founded in 1912.

Maestro Spano made his highlyacclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in 2019, leading the US premiere of Marnie, the second opera by American composer Nico Muhly. Recent concert highlights have included several world premiere performances, including Voy a Dormir by Bryce Dessner at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and mezzosoprano Kelley O’Connor; George Tsontakis’s Violin Concerto No. 3 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Dimitrios Skyllas’s Kyrie eleison with the BBC Symphony Orchestra; the Tuba Concerto by Jennifer Higdon, performed by Craig Knox and the Pittsburgh Symphony; Melodia, For Piano and Orchestra, by Canadian composer Matthew Ricketts at the Aspen Music Festival; and Miserere, by ASO bassist Michael Kurth.

The Atlanta School of Composers reflects Spano’s commitment to American contemporary music. He has led ASO performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Ravinia, Ojai, and Savannah Music Festivals. Guest engagements have included the Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Minnesota Orchestras, New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, and the San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New World, San Diego, Oregon, Utah, and Kansas City Symphonies. His opera performances include Covent Garden, Welsh National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and the 2005 and 2009 Seattle Opera productions of Wagner’s Ring cycles.

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German conductor Kevin John Edusei is sought-after the world over, dividing his time equally between the concert hall and opera house. He is praised repeatedly for the drama and tension that he brings to his musicmaking, for his attention to detail, sense of architecture, and the fluidity, warmth and insight that he brings to his performances. He is deeply committed to the creative elements of performance, presenting classical music in new formats, cultivating audiences, introducing music by under-represented composers and conducting an eclectic range of repertoire from the baroque to the contemporary.

In the 2022/23 season, Edusei makes his debut with many orchestras across the UK and US, including the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Hallé, Utah Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony and National Symphony (Washington) orchestras amongst others and he returns to the London Symphony, the City of Birmingham Symphony, Baltimore and Colorado Symphony orchestras. With the Chineke! Orchestra he returns to the BBC Proms for a televised performance of Beethoven 9 and also performs at Festivals in Snape, Hamburg, Helsinki and Lucerne. In recent seasons he has conducted many of the major orchestras across the UK, Holland, Germany and the US. He is the former Chief Conductor of the Munich Symphony Orchestra and 22/23 marks the start of his tenure as the Principal Guest Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (Texas).

In the 2022/23 season Edusei also makes his debut with the Royal Opera House conducting La Boheme with Juan Diego Florez and Ailyn Pérez. He recently made his debut at the