Jader Bignamini (born 1976 in
Crema, Lombardy,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
) is an Italian conductor and clarinetist.
As a child, Bignamini became interested in the clarinet. He formally studied music at the Conservatorio Nicolini
Piacenza
Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...
.
He joined the
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi (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. 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, since 2016, and music director of La Scala, since 2017. Prior to this, he held chief conducting position ...
.
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, oversaw the building of the first opera house on a newl ...
in July 2015. His first conducting appearance at the
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
was in November 2017. In June 2018, Bignamini first guest-conducted the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current musi ...
(BBC NOW), as an emergency substitute for
Leonard Slatkin.
He returned to Detroit in October 2019 for a further guest-conducting engagement with the orchestra. In January 2020, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Bignamini as its next music director, effective with the 2020-2021 season, with an initial contract of 6 seasons.
This appointment marks his first music directorship.
Bignamini and his wife Lidia, herself a clarinetist, have two children.
The family resides in
Cremona
Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' (Po Valley). It is the capital of the ...
.
References
External links
Official webpage of Jader BiganminiOpus 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 clarinetists
Italian male conductors (music)
People from Crema, Lombardy