Jose-Luis Novo
conductor
Training: Cleveland Institute of Music, Yale University, Royal Conservatory (Belgium) and University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
Of Note: Music Director: Annapolis Symphony Orchestra and Binghamton Philharmonic; Former Assistant Conductor: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Career Inspiration: In 1984, I unexpectedly had to conduct a concert of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain without a rehearsal.
On Classical Music: Every composition is a powerful artistic statement related to aspects of life perceived by the composer. Bringing a work of art back to life will only last while it is being performed and we’ll never be able to experience it the same way again: this ephemeral nature of a concert makes it all the more special.
Off the Podium: I am a perfectionist, so even when I wash the dishes I like doing a good job!
One of Spain’s most promising young conductors, José-Luis Novo was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Binghamton Philharmonic in February 2003. In addition, he was appointed Music Director of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra in March 2005. Prior to his appointments with Annapolis and Binghamton orchestras, Mr. Novo held the positions of Assistant Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Music Director Emeritus Jesús López-Cobos, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Oxford (Ohio) Chamber Orchestra, and the Miami University Symphony Orchestra, Associate Conductor of the National Repertory Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain and of the Yale Symphony Orchestra. Since 1999, he has been a member of the conducting faculty at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Previous guest conducting engagements have included appearances with the Windsor Symphony, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Principado de Asturias Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Philharmonic, the Springfield (Ohio) Symphony, the Echternach Festival Orchestra at the Kennedy Center and on tour in Luxembourg and Germany, the City of Granada Orchestra, the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra and the Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra.
As a violinist, Mr. Novo has appeared in concerts and recitals in Europe and in the United States, and has made recordings for the Spanish and Norwegian National Radios. He is a founding member of several important ensembles in which he has held leading positions: as concertmaster and soloist with the Youth Chamber Orchestra of Spain, as principal second violin of the New Amsterdam Sinfonietta, and as concertmaster of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain. Currently, he is a member of the Orquestra de Cadaques.
José-Luis Novo began his musical studies in his hometown of Valladolid, Spain. At the conservatory there, he obtained the degree of Profesor Superior de Violin, with honors in solfege, harmony, and violin. A scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Culture allowed him to continue studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, where he earned a First Prize in violin. In 1988, he came to the United States as Fulbright Scholar, obtaining both Master of Music and Master of Musical Arts degrees from Yale University, where he was also bestowed the Frances G. Wickes Award and the Yale School of Music Alumni Association Prize. In 1992, the Spanish foundation La Caixa awarded him a fellowship to study at the Cleveland Institute of Music where he completed a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting. Finally, he concluded his conducting studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His conducting teachers have included Gerhard Samuel, Carl Topilow, Louis Lane, Edmon Colomer, James Ross, and Charles Bruck (at the Pierre Monteux School in Maine). In addition, Mr. Novo has attended seminars and master classes with Günther Herbig, Lorin Maazel, Cristoph von Dohnänyi, Leonard Slatkin, Larry Rachleff, Daniel Lewis, Victor Yampolsky, and Christopher Wilkins.