Neeme Järvi, the 66-year-old Estonian-American conductor who is currently music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO), has been selected by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) as its next music director. An extensive article in The Star-Ledger, the state's largest newspaper, reports the appointment and provides considerable background on the conductor.
Järvi, who has been DSO music director for 17 years, had previously announced that he would step down from his Detroit post after the 2004–05 season, but he is committed to that orchestra until then. The NJSO, however, has been without a music director since Zdenek Macal left the job in 2001. So Järvi will assume the position of principal conductor and music director designate for this season and next; his initial three-year term as NJSO music director begins with the 2005–06 season.
The conductor is something of a patriarch in the classical music world, The Star-Ledger points out. His daughter Maarika is a solo flutist; his older son Paavo is music director of the Cincinnati Symphony and becomes artistic director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie of Bremen next year; younger son Kristjan is founder and music director of New York-based new music specialists the Absolute Ensemble as well as music director of the Tonkünstler Orchestra in Austria and the Norrlands Opera and Orchestra in Umeå, Sweden.
Neeme Järvi is much admired in the classical music world for the transformations he has wrought with three orchestras: the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, which he thoroughly re-energized and with which he made many acclaimed recordings; the Gothenburg Symphony, which experienced such impressive artistic growth under his leadership that it became Sweden's national orchestra (Järvi leaves the music director post there at the end of this season); and Detroit, which was financially distressed and demoralized when he arrived and now has a renewed musical reputation, a beautifully refurbished hall and a $125 million endowment. In addition, having more than 350 discs to his credit, the Star-Ledger report observes, Neeme Järvi is one of the most recorded conductors alive today.
With an internationally renowned conductor of Järvi's caliber and the purchase earlier this year, from philanthropist Herbert Axelrod, of a collecton of 30 Stradivarius violins and other antique string instruments, the NJSO seems likely to raise its national and international profile considerably. As for why the conductor would go from Detroit to an orchestra that is neither as large nor as famous, Järvi told The Star-Ledger that "At this point, I need to have room to create something. A lot has been achieved in New Jersey: it is a professional organization, with many talented musicians and a nice new home, which is very important. But there is room to do more, with the orchestra, the repertoire and the community. That attracts me."
— Matthew Westphal
"Jersey Symphony lands a global star"
Bradley Bambarger and Peggy McGlone -
The Star-Ledger [Newark, New Jersey] - 28 October 2003
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