BIOGRAPHY OF JONATHAN SCHIFFMAN

Jonathan Schiffman has emerged as one of the most promising conductors on the international scene. His career was launched in 2004 as a result of winning 1st Prize, at age 27, in the 8th Antonio Pedrotti International Conducting Competition. The critics praised Mr. Schiffman as possessing a rare combination of "uncontestable musicality and impeccable technique".

In April 2007, Mr. Schiffman was named Music Director of the Orchestre Lyrique de Région Avignon-Provence, thus becoming one of the youngest conductors at the helm of a major french orchestra. In February 2006, Mr. Schiffman, replacing Kurt Masur on short notice, made his subscription concert debut with the National Orchestra of France at the Théatre de Champs-Elysées which resulted in a 2008 reengagement as well as debuts with the Opéra National de Lorraine and the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. Recent highlights include performances of Stravinsky’s Les Noces at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris as well as a string of debuts and reengagements throughout Italy with Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Orchestra di Padova, Orchestra di Roma e del Lazio, Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan, Orchestre Sinfonica di Lecce, and Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese. Upcoming projects include debuts with Orchestre de Cannes, Opéra de Rouen, Les Choregies d’Orange, as well as productions with the Opéra d’Avignon of Les Contes d’Hoffman, La Clemenza di Tito, I Capuleti e I Montecchi, and Eugene Onegin.

An active composer himself, Mr. Schiffman has also been especially involved in promoting new music. He has conducted premieres by a number of prominent Italian composers including Claudio Ambrossini, Fausto Romitelli, and Emanuele Casale. Recent projects in the United States include conducting the world premiere performance of Stravinsky's last work, entitled, "Four Preludes and Fugues transcribed from The Well-Tempered Clavier", recording young composer Saran Choi’s Flute Concerto which took first prize in the 2002 ASCAP composers contest, and serving as head-juror of the 2005 Robert Black Memorial Composition Competition.

A native of New York City, Mr. Schiffman began studying cello at age five. Piano and composition studies followed shortly afterwards. While an undergraduate at Yale, Mr. Schiffman was appointed music director of the Yale Bach Society Orchestra & Chorus. Upon graduating with honors, Mr. Schiffman attended the Aspen Summer Music Festival as a conducting fellow and subsequently received a master’s degree from Juilliard, where he studied conducting with Otto-Werner Mueller. In 2001, Mr. Schiffman made his professional conducting debut with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. His success there led to several return engagements as well as concerts with the National Symphony, Eugene Symphony, and Richmond Symphony orchestras. Mr. Schiffman moved to Paris in 2003 to study composition with Narcis Bonet as a Fulbright scholar. He currently divides his time between Avignon and Munich.