Interlochen Arts Camp announces conductors and repertoire for the 2022 World Youth Symphony Orchestra
Conductors Jader Bignamini, Roderick Cox, Tito Muñoz, and Erina Yashima will make their Interlochen debuts, joining JoAnn Falletta and World Youth Symphony Orchestra Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Cristian Măcelaru in a star-studded season.
Top row, L-R: Erina Yashima, Cristian Măcelaru, and Roderick Cox. Bottom row, L-R: Jader Bignamini, JoAnn Falletta, and Tito Muñoz.
Interlochen Arts Camp has announced the conductors and repertoire for the 2022 World Youth Symphony Orchestra, the program’s flagship ensemble.
Conductors Jader Bignamini, Roderick Cox, Tito Muñoz, and Erina Yashima will make their Interlochen debuts this summer, with Muñoz leading the World Youth Symphony Orchestra in its traditional end-of-session performance, “Les Préludes.” Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director JoAnn Falletta and World Youth Symphony Orchestra Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Cristian Măcelaru round out a star-studded season.
An alumnus of Interlochen Arts Academy, Cristian Măcelaru currently serves as music director of the Orchestre National de France in Paris, chief conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester, and music director and conductor of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. In 2020, Măcelaru conducted the Grammy Award-winning recording of Wynton Marsalis’ Violin Concerto featuring soloist Nicola Benedetti and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Jader Bignamini joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2020 as the ensemble’s 18th music director. A native of Crema, Italy, Bignamini began his career as a clarinetist before discovering his passion for conducting. Since his professional conducting debut at age 28, Bignamini has conducted some of the world’s most acclaimed orchestras and opera companies in venues across the globe, including the Osaka Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, and Dallas Symphony.
Winner of the 2018 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award by the U.S Solti Foundation, Roderick Cox has been praised as a “trailblazer…a conductor who will be amongst the vanguard” (Minnesota StarTribune). The former associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, Cox has recently appeared with the New World Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, and numerous other ensembles.
Grammy Award-winning conductor JoAnn Falletta serves as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra; principal guest conductor of the Brevard Music Center; and artistic adviser of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Falletta has released more than 115 recordings, conducted well over 100 world premiere performances, and served as a member of the National Council on the Arts during the Bush and Obama administrations.
Currently the Virginia G. Piper Music Director of the Phoenix Symphony, Tito Muñoz has appeared with many of the world’s most prominent orchestras, including the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra. A passionate educator, Muñoz has led performances at the Aspen Music Festival, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and Music Academy of the West and maintains a close relationship with Arizona State University, where he has held a faculty position and is a frequent guest teacher and conductor.
Philadelphia Orchestra Assistant Conductor Erina Yashima will lead the World Youth Symphony Orchestra in their first performance of the 2022 season. A winner of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Sir Georg Solti Conducting Apprenticeship, Yashima has studied with acclaimed conductor Riccardo Muti since 2015. In her current role with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Yashima assists Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, as well as other guest conductors, and leads The Philadelphia Orchestra in a variety of different concert programs.
Repertoire for the season will include:
- July 3 | Erina Yashima
- Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz
- July 10 | Cristian Măcelaru
- Blues Symphony by Wynton Marsalis
- Symphony No. 6 by Antonín Dvořák
- July 17 | Roderick Cox
- “Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman” by Joan Tower
- Symphony No. 5 by Dmitri Shostakovich
- July 24 | Jader Bignamini
- Symphony No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff
- July 31 | JoAnn Falletta
- Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
- Aug. 7 | Tito Muñoz
- “Seven O’Clock Shout” by Valerie Coleman
- Danzón No. 2 by Arturo Márquez
- The Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi
- “Les Préludes” by Franz Liszt
Interlochen Arts Camp is the nation’s premier multidisciplinary summer arts program, where emerging artists transform passion and potential into purpose. Guided by internationally renowned artists, campers ages 8 to 18 study music, theatre, dance, visual arts, creative writing, and film in a glorious, natural setting with like-minded peers.
Interlochen Arts Camp’s High School Orchestra & Wind Symphony program transforms students’ instrumental skills through daily rehearsals, weekly private lessons, supplementary musicianship classes, and regular solo, chamber, and large ensemble performance opportunities. Since its first summer 1928, the program has produced thousands of successful alumni, including New York Philharmonic principal harpist Nancy Allen; composer and wind band conductor Frederick Fennell; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra principal cellist Rafael Figueroa; Philadelphia Orchestra principal tubist Carol Jantsch; Grammy Award-winning saxophone soloist Timothy McAllister; and New York Philharmonic principal clarinetist Anthony McGill.
Conductors and repertoire for the program’s other three ensembles—the Interlochen Philharmonic, World Youth Wind Symphony, and Interlochen Wind Ensemble—will be announced at a later date.
Applications are now open for all summer 2022 Arts Camp programs; audition requirements vary by program. The Orchestra & Wind Symphony program fills up quickly. Prospective students are encouraged to apply by the Jan. 15, 2022 priority application deadline for placement in their top-choice program.
