Louis Langrée (born 11 January 1961) is a French conductor. He is the son of organist and theorist Alain Langrée. One of his sisters is an amateur cellist.

Biography

Early years

Langrée studied at the

Strasbourg Conservatory The Conservatoire de Strasbourg is a music conservatory located in Strasbourg, France. The school was created using funds given to the city of Strasbourg by arts patron Louis Apffel in 1839. The conservatoire's first day of classes began on 3 Janua ...

, but had no formal academic training in conducting. He began his career as a vocal coach and assistant at the

Opéra National de Lyon The Opéra National de Lyon, marketed as Opéra de Lyon during the last decade, is an opera company in Lyon, based and performing mostly at the Opéra Nouvel, an 1831 theater that was modernized and architecturally transformed in 1993. The inaugu ...

, from 1983 to 1986. He then worked as an assistant conductor at the

Aix-en-Provence Festival The Festival d'Aix-en-Provence is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumental ...

, and held a comparable post with the Bayreuth Festival. From 1989 to 1992, he was an assistant conductor with l'

Orchestre de Paris The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris. History In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du ...

UK and Europe

In Europe and the UK, Langrée has been music director of the Orchestre de Picardie (1993–1998), the Opéra National de Lyon (1998–2000), Glyndebourne Touring Opera (1998–2003), and the

Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège The Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (OPRL) (Liège Royal Philharmonique in English) is a Belgian symphony orchestra, based in Liège. The primary concert venue and administrative base of the OPRL is the ''Salle Philharmonique de Liège' ...

(2001–2006). In June 2011, Langrée was named principal conductor of the

Camerata Salzburg The Camerata Salzburg is an Austrian chamber orchestra based in Salzburg, Austria. The Camerata's principal concert venue is the Mozarteum University. History Bernhard Paumgartner founded the ensemble in 1952 as the ''Camerata Academica des Moz ...

, effective September 2011, with an initial contract of 5 seasons. Langrée was the most recent conductor to hold the title of principal conductor of the

, and stood down from the post in 2016. In October 2021, the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visua ...

announced the appointment of Langrée as the next music director of the Théâtre national de l' Opéra-Comique, effective 1 November 2021, with an initial contract of 5 years.

United States

Langrée made his first US conducting appearance in 1991 at the

Spoleto Festival USA Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, is one of America's major performing arts festivals. It was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to establish a counterpart to the Festival dei Due ...

. In December 2002, he was named music director of the Mostly Mozart Festival (

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

), and formally took up the post in the summer of 2003. In March 2005, his initial contract with Mostly Mozart was extended to 2008. His contract with Mostly Mozart, previously through 2017, was further extended, in April 2017, through 2020. In July 2019, the festival announced the extension of Langrée's contract through 2023. Langrée first guest-conducted the

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary concert venue is Music Hall. In addition to its symphony concerts, the orchestra gives pops concerts as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The Cinc ...

in March 2011. Based on that appearance, in April 2012, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra appointed Langrée its 13th music director, as of the 2013–2014 season, with an initial contract of 4 years. He assumed the title of music director designate with immediate effect. In March 2015, the Cincinnati Symphony announced the extension of Langrée's contract as music director through the 2019–2020 season. In February 2017, the orchestra further extended his Cincinnati contract through the 2021–2022 season. In January 2020, the Cincinnati Symphony announced the newest extension of his contract, through the 2023-2024 season. In June 2021, the Cincinnati Symphony announced that Langrée is to conclude his tenure as its music director at the close of the 2023-2024 season.

Recordings

Langrée has made several recordings for Virgin Classics, with the Orchestra of the Opera National de Lyon, the

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera Artistic Associate at Kings Place, and h ...

, the

and Le Concert d'Astrée. With the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, he has recorded for Universal/Accord symphonies of Franck and Chausson, piano concertos of Liszt, Ravel and Schulhoff (soloist, Claire-Marie Le Guay), and for the Cypress label, works for clarinet and orchestra by Mozart, Rossini and Weber (soloist, Jean-Luc Votano). Several of his recordings have received awards, including the ''Victoire de la musique'',

MIDEM Midem is the acronym for Marché International du Disque et de l'Édition Musicale, which is organised annually in and around the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France. The trade show, organized by Reed MIDEM, a subsidiary of Re ...

, ''

Diapason d'Or The Diapason d'Or (French for "Golden Tuning Fork") is a recommendation of outstanding (mostly) classical music recordings given by reviewers of '' Diapason'' magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the ...

'', and '' Gramophone'' awards. Langrée was a co-recipient of the Best Musical Achievement for Opera award from the

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

for his conducting of the 2001 Glyndebourne Opera production of ''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, wi ...

''. In 2007, he was a winner of the ''Grand Prix Antoine Livio de la Presse Musicale Internationale''. With the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Langrée has recorded music commissioned for the orchestra by Zhou Tian, Thierry Escaich, and Sebastian Currier.

Personal life

Langrée and his wife Aimée Clark Langrée, a writer for French television, have two children. The family resides in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. In 2006, Langrée was made a

Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

References

External links

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Askonas Holt agency biography of Louis Langrée

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra biography of Louis Langrée
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langree, Louis 1961 births French male conductors (music) Living people Musicians from Mulhouse Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur 21st-century French conductors (music) 21st-century French male musicians Erato Records artists