T12.A7. ADDA·SIMFÒNICA/OUNDJIAN “Beethoven 100” Naturaleza, vida y amor III

Peter Oundjian is a Canadian conductor and former violinist whose career spans more than five decades.

Born in Toronto and raised in Surrey, England, he studied at the Royal College of Music, where he received the Tagore Gold Medal in 1975, and later at Juilliard with Ivan Galamian, Itzhak Perlman and Dorothy DeLay.

In 1980 he won First Prize at the International Violin Competition of Viña del Mar and the Pro Musicis Award of New York.

A year later he was appointed first violin of the Tokyo String Quartet, with whom he performed worldwide for 14 years and recorded more than 35 albums.

After a focal dystonia ended his career as a violinist in 1995, Oundjian devoted himself entirely to conducting, bringing to the podium the precision, balance and spontaneity characteristic of a great chamber musician.

Since then he has conducted major orchestras in Europe and North America, and was music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra between 2004 and 2018 —now, his Honorary Director— and of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra between 2012 and 2018.

He also held prominent artistic posts at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Caramoor International Music Festival and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

Equally committed to training, Oundjian has been linked to the Yale School of Music since 1981 and is Principal Conductor of the Yale Philharmonia since 2016.

Currently he is music director of the Colorado Music Festival and the Colorado Symphony.

Admired for his collaborative spirit, his musical imagination and his ability to communicate, Peter Oundjian remains one of the great figures of the international podium.