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Miguel Alberto Harth-Bedoya (born 1968) is a Peruvian conductor. He was formerly music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2020 and chief conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra from 2013 to 2020. Starting the Fall of 2023, Harth-Bedoya became the Mary Franks Thompson Director of Orchestral Studies and Music Director of the Baylor University Symphony Orchestra. [1]

Biography

Family and early life

Harth-Bedoya was born in Lima. His mother was a choral director for the airline Aeroperu. His sister Maria Luisa Harth-Bedoya is a guitarist.

Harth-Bedoya studied at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He later attended the Juilliard School in New York, where his teachers included Otto-Werner Mueller. He graduated from Juilliard in 1991 with a Bachelor of Music degree and in 1993 with a Master of Music degree, both in conducting. His other conducting teachers have included Gustav Meier and Seiji Ozawa. In his native Peru, Harth-Bedoya helped to establish the Orquesta Filarmonica de Lima and the Compañía Contemporánea de Opera, and worked with both ensembles from 1993 to 1998.

Career

In the US in his early career, Harth-Bedoya worked with the Norwalk Youth Symphony ( Connecticut), with which he made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut. [2] He was music director of the New York Youth Symphony from 1993 to 1997. He also worked as a member of the Juilliard conducting faculty and was a staff conductor with the New York Philharmonic.

In 1996, Harth-Bedoya became music director of the Eugene Symphony, and held this post until 2002. [3] In 1998, he became assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, appointed by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Salonen subsequently promoted him to associate conductor in 1999, and Harth-Bedoya held this post through 2004. [4] In 2002, Harth-Bedoya won the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award.

In 2000, Harth-Bedoya became music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. [5] Following several extensions of his Fort Worth contract, [6] [7] in May 2018, the orchestra announced that Harth-Bedoya was to conclude his Fort Worth music directorship at the end of the 2019–2020 season, and subsequently to take the title of conductor laureate of the orchestra. In the US, Harth-Bedoya's work in contemporary music has included conducting the July 2005 premiere of the revised version of Golijov's Ainadamar at Santa Fe Opera, and the world premiere performances of Jennifer Higdon's first opera Cold Mountain, also at Santa Fe Opera, in August 2015. [8]

Outside of the US, Harth-Bedoya was music director of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra from 2000 to 2005. In 2007, he established the multimedia Caminos del Inka project for promotion of music from South America, which has included orchestral works of several South American composers, such as Osvaldo Golijov, Enrique Iturriaga, Celso Garrido Lecca, Esteban Benzecry and Jimmy Lopez. Harth-Bedoya first guest-conducted the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (KORK) in November 2010. In February 2012, the KORK announced the appointment of Harth-Bedoya as its 7th principal conductor, effective with the 2013-2014 season. [9] He concluded his chief conductorship of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra at the close of the 2019-2020 season. [10]

Harth-Bedoya holds a position as distinguished guest professor of conducting at Texas Christian University.

Personal life

Harth-Bedoya married his wife Maritza in 2000. The couple have three children. The family resides in Fort Worth, Texas.

Selected recordings

References

  1. ^ https://music.baylor.edu/ensembles/orchestras/baylor-symphony-orchestra#:~:text=Starting%20the%20Fall%20of%202023,of%20the%20Baylor%20Symphony%20Orchestra.
  2. ^ Robert Sherman (1993-05-23). "Toe Tapping From Jazz to Israeli Dances". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
  3. ^ Matthew Westphal (2006-09-05). "Conductor and Expectant Father Miguel Harth-Bedoya Cancels LA Philharmonic Concerts". Playbill Arts. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
  4. ^ Mark Swed (2008-07-28). "Harth-Bedoya makes the night dance at the Hollywood Bowl". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
  5. ^ Vivien Schweitzer (2007-03-07). "Miguel Harth-Bedoya Extends Contract With Fort Worth Symphony". Playbill Arts. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
  6. ^ Kristian Lin (2010-04-28). "Miguel-Harth Bedoya Looks to the Future - A Week With the Maestro". Fort Worth Weekly. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
  7. ^ Scott Cantrell (2012-03-03). "Classical music: Fort Worth Symphony announces 2012-13 centenary season". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
  8. ^ James M Keller (2015-08-02). "Cold Mountain opera review: Long-lost love among the ruins". Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
  9. ^ Fred Olav Vatne (2012-02-28). "KORK får peruansk stjernedirigent". Norwegian Radio. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
  10. ^ Jan Fredrik Heyerdahl (2019-11-20). "Blir ny sjefdirigent i KORK". Norwegian Radio. Retrieved 2020-02-29.

External links

Cultural offices
Preceded by Music Director, New York Youth Symphony
1993-1997
Succeeded by
Mischa Santora
Preceded by Music Director, Eugene Symphony
1996-2002
Succeeded by
Preceded by
John Giordano
Music Director, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
2000-2020
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Conductor, Norwegian Radio Orchestra
2013-2020
Succeeded by