The management of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra announced on Wednesday the appointment of Nathalie Stutzmann as musical director for a period of 4 years from the 2022/223 season. The French conductor and contralto thus becomes the second woman to take up this prestigious position at the head of a major American orchestra.
Marin Alsop was the 1time woman to conduct to conduct a major orchestra in the United States
Autumn had not started well for Nathalie Stutzmann who was to make her debut from September 29 to October 15 at the Met Opera to direct Iphigenia in Tauride but the Covid-19 pandemic and the social movements that shook the New York institution led to the cancellation of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s lyrical tragedy. A disappointment quickly digested by the 56-year-old French conductor appointed on October 13 at the head of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO).
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A first for a French conductor who also becomes the 2e woman appointed to lead one of the 25 greatest American orchestras after Marin Alsop, musical director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 2007 to 2021. Nathalie Stutzmann was appointed for a 4-year term which will begin in 2022. She succeeds to Robert Spano, who had led the Great Orchestra of Atlanta for 20 years, and pledged to spend at least 10 weeks a year in the capital of Georgia.
.@jhowardross sat down with @nathstutzmann for the @ajc to talk about her journey to becoming a conductor and her future as the ASO’s next Music Director: https://t.co/uy2lYb53x7
— Atlanta Symphony (@AtlantaSymphony) October 13, 2021
Nathalie Stutzmann studied conducting with Seiji Ozawa and Sir Simon Rattle
Born in 1965 in Suresnes, daughter of lyrical artists, Nathalie Stutzmann began her piano, bassoon, cello and singing studies at a very young age and studied orchestral conducting with the Finnish teacher Jorma Panula and with prestigious maestros such as Seiji Ozawa and Sir Simon Rattle. At the same time, she continues her career as an opera singer. Renowned contralto, she has made more than 80 recordings and received the most prestigious awards. Since 2018, Nathalie Stutzmann has also been principal conductor of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra (Norway) and, since the beginning of 2021, principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
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Regarding her appointment to Atlanta, Nathalie Stutzmann said “There is a special chemistry between the Orchestra and me. The dedicated commitment of ASO musicians to music touches my heart. They have a nice open mind, and they like to work hard, take on challenges and take risks to serve the music to bring the highest levels of emotion to their audience”. Nathalie Stutzmann will also collaborate closely with the ASO choir, which she will conduct in March 2022 during a concert which will offer the Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart et Death and transformation, Richard Strauss’ symphonic poem.
Philippe Gault