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Joana Carneiro Conductor

Music Director, Berkeley Symphony
Guest Conductor, Gulbenkian Orchestra

Noted for her vibrant performances in a wide diversity of musical styles, Joana Carneiro has attracted considerable attention as one of the most outstanding young conductors working today. In January 2009, Ms. Carneiro was named music director of the Berkeley Symphony, succeeding Kent Nagano and becoming only the third music director in the 40-year history of the orchestra. She currently serves as official guest conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra, working with the orchestra at least four weeks every year.

Ms. Carneiro’s 2009/2010 highlights include her inaugural season as Music Director of the Berkeley Symphony, debuts with the Toronto Symphony and Seattle Symphony, a performance in Quito, Ecuador with Renée Fleming as soloist, and the opening of the Venice Biennale in the Gran Teatro de la Fenice in September. She recently made much-lauded debuts with the Sao Paolo State Symphony, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, where the Pioneer Press called her performance “an unqualified triumph.” Past North American engagements include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, Grant Park Music Festival and Manhattan School of Music. In Europe, she has conducted the Norkopping Symphony, Prague Philharmonia and Orchestre de Bretagne, among others. Her Asian appearances have included the Macau Chamber Orchestra and Beijing Orchestra at the International Musica Festival of Macau (China).

Increasingly in demand as an opera conductor, Ms. Carneiro will conduct John Adams’s A Flowering Tree, a production in which she made her debut with the Chicago Opera Theater, at La Cité de la Musique in Paris in Spring 2010 and in her Cincinnati Opera debut in Summer 2011. In January 2010, Ms. Carneiro will lead performances of Peter Sellars's stagings of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex and Symphony of Psalms at the Sydney Festival. Previously she served as assistant conductor to Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Paris Opera's premiere of Adriana Mater by Kaija Saariaho and led critically-acclaimed performances of Philippe Boesmans's Julie in Bolzano, Italy.

As a finalist of the prestigious 2002 Maazel-Vilar Conductor's Competition at Carnegie Hall, Ms. Carneiro was recognized by the jury for demonstrating a level of potential that holds great promise for her future career. Since then, her profile has grown quickly both in the United States and Europe. From 2005 through 2008, Ms. Carneiro was an American Symphony Orchestra League Conducting Fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. At the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ms. Carneiro worked closely with Esa-Pekka Salonen, hosted education concerts, and conducted subscription concerts and special projects at Walt Disney Concert Hall and at the Hollywood Bowl. In 2003-2004, Ms. Carneiro worked with Maestros Kurt Masur and Christoph von Dohnanyi and conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra, as one of three conductors chosen for London’s Allianz Cultural Foundation International Conductors Academy.

Having won the Young Musicians Foundation’s 2002 National Conductor Search, Ms. Carneiro served as Music Director of the Los Angeles Debut Orchestra until June 2005. Previously, Ms. Carneiro served as Assistant Conductor of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and as Music Director of the Campus Philharmonia Orchestra (Michigan).

A native of Lisbon, Ms. Carneiro began her musical studies as a violist before receiving her conducting degree from the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra in Lisbon, where she studied with Jean-Marc Burfin. Ms. Carneiro received her Masters degree in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University as a student of Victor Yampolsky and Mallory Thompson, and pursued doctoral studies at the University of Michigan, where she studied with Kenneth Kiesler. She has participated in master classes with Gustav Meier, Michael Tilson Thomas, Larry Rachleff, Jean Sebastian Bereau, Roberto Benzi and Pascal Rophe.

In March 2004, Ms. Carneiro was decorated by the President of the Portuguese Republic, Mr. Jorge Sampaio, with the Commendation of the Order of the Infante Dom Henrique.


Date Last Edited: August 2009


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