Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, CC (born Yannick Séguin; 6 March 1975) is a Canadian conductor and pianist.

He is currently music director of the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montréal), the Metropolitan Opera, and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Nézet-Séguin was born in Montreal on 6 March 1975 to two specialists in education, Serge P. Séguin, PhD, a university professor, and Claudine Nézet, MA, a university lecturer and coordinator.

He began to study piano at age five, with Jeanne-d'Arc Lebrun-Lussier, and decided to become an orchestra conductor at age ten.

Nézet-Séguin studied successively at St-Isaac-Jogues Primary School, at Collège Mont-Saint-Louis Secondary School and at Bois-de-Boulogne College.

In the meantime, he was admitted to Anisia Campos's piano class, at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec where he earned five first prizes in piano and in four related musical subjects.

He also studied choral conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt at the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and did many master classes with renowned conductors (George Benjamin, Roberto Carnevale, Daniele Gatti).

At 19, he met and was invited to follow Carlo Maria Giulini in rehearsals and concerts for more than a year.

He became the musical director of the Chœur polyphonique de Montréal in 1994 and obtained the same post at Choeur de Laval in 1995.

In 1995, he founded his own professional orchestral and vocal ensemble, La Chapelle de Montréal, with whom he performed two to four concerts a year until 2002.

He considers Charles Dutoit as his first inspiration as a child and Carlo Maria Giulini as his master.

From 1998 to 2002, Nézet-Séguin was chorus master and assistant conductor of the Opéra de Montréal.

Nézet-Séguin became music director of the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montréal) in 2000, and principal guest conductor of the Victoria Symphony (British Columbia, Canada) in 2003.

Maestro Nézet-Séguin made his American conducting debut in 2002 at Sarasota Opera conducting Mozart's Così fan tutte.

In 2005, Nézet-Séguin guest-conducted the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (RPhO) for the first time, and returned in 2006.

In December 2006, the RPhO announced the appointment of Nézet-Séguin as their 11th Principal Conductor, by a unanimous vote, starting with the 2008–09 concert season, with an initial contract of 4 years.

He was the principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra from 2008 to 2018.

In December 2008, Nézet-Séguin made his first appearance with the Philadelphia Orchestra, at the invitation of Charles Dutoit.

He returned for a second guest-conducting engagement in December 2009.

Nézet-Séguin began annual appearances with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 2009, making his début on 31 December 2009, conducting a new production of Carmen.

His contract with the Orchestre Métropolitain through 2010 was later extended through 2015.

In April 2010, the RPhO announced the extension of his contract through 2015.

With the RPhO, Nézet-Séguin has recorded commercially for Virgin Classics and for EMI.

In June 2010, he was named the eighth music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, starting with the 2012–13 season.

He served as music director-designate from 2010 to 2012.

There followed Don Carlo in 2010 and in 2015, Faust in 2011, La traviata in 2013, and Rusalka in 2014.

His initial contract as music director was for 5 seasons, with 7 weeks of scheduled concerts in the 2012–13 season, 15 weeks in the next 2 seasons, and 16 weeks in the subsequent 2 seasons of his Philadelphia contract.

In June 2013, the RPhO further extended his contract through the summer of 2018.

In September 2015, the orchestra announced a further extension of his contract through the 2020–21 season.

In May 2015, the RPhO announced the conclusion of Nézet-Séguin's tenure as RPhO principal conductor at the end of the 2017–2018 season.

He now has the title of Eredirigent (honorary conductor) of the RPhO.

In January 2015, the orchestra announced a five-year extension of Nézet-Séguin's contract to the 2021–2022 season.

He opened the Met's 2015–16 season in September 2015 conducting a new production of Verdi's Otello, and returned in 2017 to conduct Der fliegende Holländer.

In June 2016, the orchestra announced a further extension of his contract, through the 2025–26 season.

In February 2023, the orchestra announced a further extension of his contract, through the 2029–2030 season, along with a change in his title to music and artistic director.

On 2 June 2016, the Metropolitan Opera announced the appointment of Nézet-Séguin as the next music director, effective with the 2020–2021 season, with an initial contract of four years.

He took the title of music director-designate as of the 2017–18 season.

In February 2018, the company announced that Nézet-Séguin would take the title of music director two years early, as of the 2018–2019 season, following the Met's termination of James Levine for sexual misconduct.

In September 2019, the orchestra announced that Nézet-Séguin had signed for a lifetime contract.

He has conducted commercial recordings of symphonies of Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler with the Orchestre Métropolitain.