Jader Bignamini (born 1976 in

Crema, Lombardy Crema (; ) is a city and (municipality) in the province of Cremona, in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is built along the river Serio River, Serio at from Cremona. It is also the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Crema, who gave the tit ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

) is an Italian conductor and clarinetist.

Biography

As a child, Bignamini became interested in the clarinet. He formally studied music at the Conservatorio Nicolini

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

. He joined the

Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi is an Italy, Italian symphony orchestra founded in 1993 thanks to the visionary foresight of Vladimir Delman, Marcello Abbado, and Luigi Corbani. The orchestra is based in Milan, at the Auditorium di Mi ...

(La Verdi) as a clarinetist. He further developed his interest in conducting whilst a member of La Verdi, and became an assistant conductor of La Verdi in 2010. He later became associate conductor of La Verdi. His professional debut as a conductor was at age 28. He now has the title of resident conductor with La Verdi, where his conducting mentors have included

Riccardo Chailly Riccardo Chailly (, ; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and of La Scala. Prior to this, he held chief conducting positions at the Gewandhausorchester (2005–20 ...

. In North America, Bignamini first conducted at

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby (conductor), John Crosby, oversaw the building of the f ...

in July 2015. His first conducting appearance at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

was in November 2017. In June 2018, he guest-conducted the

Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall (Detroit, Michigan), Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown, Detroit, ...

as an emergency substitute for

Leonard Slatkin Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer. Early life and education Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...

. He returned to Detroit in October 2019 for a further guest-conducting engagement with the orchestra. Then, in January 2020, the orchestra announced the appointment of Bignamini as its next music director, effective in the 2020-2021 season, with an initial contract of 6 seasons. This appointment marked the conductor's first music directorship. In December 2023, the orchestra announced the extension of Bignamini's contract as music director through to the 2030-2031 season while announcing a plan to record

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

' Blues Symphony. The album came out in March 2025. Bignamini and his wife Lidia, herself a clarinetist, have two children. The family resides in

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

References

External links

Official webpage of Jader Bignamini

Opus 3 Artists agency page on Jader Bignamini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bignamini, Jader 1976 births Living people 21st-century Italian conductors (music) 21st-century Italian male musicians Italian classical clarinetists Italian male conductors (music) People from Crema, Lombardy Music directors of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra