Berkeley Symphony names Joana Carneiro Music Director

Following an intensive two-year search, conductor Joana Carneiro was named Music Director of Berkeley Symphony on January 15, 2009. Joana's tenure begins with the 2009-10 season, which opens October 15, 2009 in UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall. Carneiro succeeds Kent Nagano, the California-born conductor who rose to international prominence during his three-decade tenure with the orchestra, as only the third Music Director in Berkeley Symphony’s history.

Learn more about this announcement:

• The Monthly: May 2009 feature article New!
• Read a list of Frequently Asked Questions
• Read the press release
• SF Chronicle: Interview
• LA Times: Carneiro is Berkeley Symphony's new leader
• Contra Costa Times: Interview
• Berkeley Daily Planet: News article
• ArtsJournal.com: Analysis
• Video of announcement, courtesy WebEx
  NOTE: once playback has commenced, click on the small camera icon at top right to view the video feed.

Joana Carneiro served as Assistant Conductor and American Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 2005-2008, working closely with Esa-Pekka Salonen. A native of Lisbon, Portugal, Carneiro is currently official guest conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra. Previously, she was Assistant Conductor with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Metropolitan Orchestra of Lisbon. She also served as Music Director of the Los Angeles Debut Orchestra following her selection in 2002 through the Young Musician’s Foundation’s National Conductor Search, past winners of which include André Previn and Michael Tilson Thomas.

“I am profoundly moved with my appointment as Music Director of Berkeley Symphony,” Carneiro stated. “It is an honor and privilege to serve an orchestra with such a tradition of excellence and imagination, an orchestra that has been, for decades, at the forefront of artistic innovation. What a great challenge it is to serve the community of Berkeley. I look forward to this opportunity and to our beautiful creative years together.”

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