Mr. Spano is recognized internationally as one of the brightest and most imaginative conductors of his generation. Through his innovative programming, he has enriched and expanded the ASO’s repertoire.
He has conducted nearly every major North American orchestra, including the Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Philadelphia Orchestra. He has appeared with the opera companies of Chicago, Houston, Seattle, and Santa Fe.
After eight years as Music Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, he left it at a new level of international prominence.
Among Mr. Spano’s exciting concerts with the Atlanta Symphony this season are Osvaldo Golijov’s opera Ainadamar and the acclaimed Pasión según San Marcos , the Verdi Requiem in Atlanta and at Carnegie Hall with the ASO Chorus, the first ASO performances of Kullervo by Sibelius (also to be recorded for Telarc), and concerts at the Ojai Festival in California with the ASO Chamber Chorus.
His other performances of interest include Naïve and Sentimental Music by John Adams with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the world premiere of John Harbison’s Milosz Songs with Dawn Upshaw and the New York Philharmonic, and concerts abroad with the BBC Scottish Symphony, ---> |
Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse (France), Berlin Radio Symphony, and Czech Philharmonic.
An accomplished pianist, Mr. Spano performs chamber music with many of his colleagues from the Atlanta Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, and Oberlin Conservatory.
He has appeared with musicians from the ASO at Spivey Hall, Morehouse College, and Georgia State University as part of ASO Connect!, a chamber-music initiative of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Born in Conneaut, Ohio, and raised in Elkhart, Indiana, Mr. Spano grew up in a musical family, playing flute, violin, and piano as well as composing.
A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory, he studied conducting with Robert Baustian and continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with Max Rudolf.
Recognized with honorary doctorates by Bowling Green State University and the Curtis Institute of Music, he has also been featured on the PBS series City Arts, A&E's Breakfast with the Arts, CBS's Late Show with David Letterman, CBS Sunday Morning, and “Sound Choices”- Inside the ASO with Monica Kaufman of WSB-TV. He makes his home in Atlanta.
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