January 5

With a side of kisses:

Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Right now the Washington DC metro stations are plastered with posters about the economic ties between Canada and the U.S., and I was reminded that there are significant cultural ones, as well. A native of Montreal, Canada, Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Yah-NEEK Neh-ZAY Say-GUN) was named Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2012. He is also Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2000 Mr. Nézet-Séguin has also been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montreal), and he has conducted all the major ensembles in his native Canada.

Nézet-Séguin is also a notable opera conductor; he has a long-term relationship with the Metropolitan Opera, where he has been talked about as a credible successor to James Levine as music director, so stay tuned...

He is also the first openly gay conductor of one of the “big five” orchestras in the United States.
Mr. Nézet-Séguin’s partner of sixteen years, Pierre Tourville (shown in sunglasses behind Yannick), is the assistant principal violist of the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montreal), and they appear everywhere together. When the conductor was fêted by the city of Philadelphia a couple of years ago, Pierre Tourville was also introduced at every stop – amazing, considering that Philadelphia is not exactly known to be a progressive city.

In a New York Times profile by Daniel Wakin earlier this year, it was reported that “Nézet-Séguin is what the orchestra world is desperate for: a young, charismatic maestro who can win the respect, even affection, of grizzled orchestra veterans, the enthusiasm of audiences and the praise of critics, which has for him been pretty exalted.”

The 37-year-old conductor’s youth is reflected in his flaunting of certain traditions – he frequently leads from the podium in a business suit and tie (Carnegie Hall), and he’s partial to tight V-neck sweaters and skinny jeans. While on vacation in Tahiti he acquired a turtle tattoo on his right shoulder, and his compact five-foot-five frame bursts with energy.

Again from Mr. Wakin’s NYT profile: “He seemed stunned by the ovation” (conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra in Verdi’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall). “Applause from his inner circle greeted him in the crowded dressing room. Attendants broke open bottles of sparkling wine. Mr. Nézet-Séguin embraced his companion, Mr. Tourville, looked him in the eyes and said, ‘Oui?’

‘Oui,’ Mr. Tourville answered. With an air of coronation, orchestra and Carnegie Hall executives toasted Mr. Nézet-Séguin. “

The conductor’s honors include a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award, Canada’s highly coveted National Arts Centre Award and the Prix Denise-Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec, awarded by the Quebec government.  In 2011, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Quebec in Montreal and was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2012.

Just because: