Jorge Mester

Jorge Mester (born April 10, 1935 in Mexico City ) is a Mexican conductor and music teacher.

The son of Hungarian emigrants studied conducting at the Juilliard School with Jean Morel and was also a student of Leonard Bernstein at the Berkshire Music Center and Albert Wolff : for several years he was violist in the Beaux Arts String Quartet . In 1955 he made his debut as conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico. In 1960 he conducted a performance of Salome at the Spoleto Festival . In the 1961–62 season he was musical director of New York's Greenwich Village Symphony Orchestra .

In 1967 he became conductor of the Louisville Orchestra , which he directed until 1979. During this time he made a name for himself as an interpreter of new music. With his orchestra he played more than 200 world premieres of compositions by Philip Glass , Peter Schickeles , Michael Daughterys , Carl Ruggles , Joan Towers , George Tsontakis and others and made 72 world premieres. In addition, recordings of works by Leonardo Balada , Samuel Barbers , Max Bruch , Carlos Chavez , Henry Cowells , George Crumbs , Luigi Dallapiccolas , Alberto Ginasteras , Enrique Granados , Charles Koechlin , Frank Martins , Peter Mennins , Krzysztof Pendereckis , Walter Pistons , Goffredo Petrassis , Peter Sculthorpes , Gunther Schullers and Dmitri Shostakovichs .

From 1985 Mester led the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra for 25 years . In addition, he was artistic director of the Orquesta Filarmonica de la Ciudad de Mexico from 1998 to 2002 , of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra from 2004 to 2012 , chief conductor of the West Australia Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra . For 21 years (from 1970 to 1991) he was actively involved in the Aspen Music Festival . As Artistic Director of the National Orchestral Association's New Orchestra Music Project , he performed numerous contemporary musical works at Carnegie Hall between 1988 and 1992 . From 2011 to 2012 he directed the debut orchestra of the Young Musicians Foundation .

With a few interruptions, Mester taught at the Juilliard School from 1958 to 1988 . As a teacher, he shaped conductors like James Conlon , Dennis Russell Davies , Andreas Delfs , JoAnn Falletta and John Nelson and musicians like Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg , Midori , Renée Fleming , Cho-Liang Lin and Robert McDuffie . In 1985 Columbia University presented him with the Ditson Conductor's Award .

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personal data
SURNAME	Mester, Jorge
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Mexican conductor and music teacher
DATE OF BIRTH	April 10, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH	Mexico city