Kevin John Edusei

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Kevin John Edusei
Edusei in 2012
Born1976 (age 47–48)
Bielefeld, Germany
Alma materRoyal Conservatory of The Hague
OccupationConductor
Organizations
Websitekevinjohnedusei.com

Kevin John Edusei (born 1976) is a German conductor.[1] He is in his eighth and final season as Chief Conductor of Munich Symphony Orchestra, and from the 2022/2023 season will be Principal Guest Conductor of Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.[2]

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Edusei is of mixed Ghanaian and German ancestry, with a Ghanaian physician father and a German historian, theologian and pastor mother.[3] His maternal grandmother, Antonie Wingels,[1] was an opera singer with the Theater Bielefeld. He learned piano as a child, and subsequently changed his musical study interests to percussion.[1] At age 14, he became a percussionist with the youth orchestra in Ostwestfalen-Lippe.[3] He studied percussion, sound engineering, and conducting at the Berlin University of the Arts. He continued his formal academic music studies at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where his teachers included Jac van Steen and Ed Spanjaard.

In the USA, Edusei held a 3-month conducting scholarship at the 2004 Aspen Music Festival, where David Zinman served as a mentor.[3] He was one of three participants in the 2007 Lucerne Festival Academy conducting class, under the guidance of Pierre Boulez and Péter Eötvös. He was a first-prize recipient in the 2008 Dimitri Mitropoulos Conducting Competition.[4] His other conducting mentors included Marc Albrecht, Kurt Masur, and Sylvain Cambreling.[5]

Early career[edit]

From 2004, Edusei served as First Kapellmeister, and subsequently Deputy Generalmusikdirektor, at the Theater Bielefeld. From 2007 to 2011, he was First Kapellmeister at the Staatstheater Augsburg.[6] He also served on the conducting staff of the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar for 2 years.[7]

Career in Europe[edit]

In May 2013, Edusei was named chief conductor of the Munich Symphony Orchestra, effective with the 2014-2015 season.[7] In June 2016, this contract was extended through the 2021-2022 season.[8]

Edusei also served as principal guest conductor of the Konzert Theater Bern,[9] and subsequently became Chief Conductor from 2015-2019.[10] During his tenure, he led new productions of Peter Grimes, Salome, Bluebeard's Castle, Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde, Káťa Kabanová and a cycle of the Da Ponte operas. Other opera productions conducted during this time included a staged production of Verdi's Requiem with Hamburg State Opera in 2018,[11] Tosca with Staatsoper Hannover in 2019,[12] and The Marriage of Figaro with English National Opera in 2020.[13]

Edusei made his conducting debut at The Proms with the Chineke! Orchestra in August 2017.[14] He conducted the Chineke! Orchestra in its first commercial recording, for the Signum label.[15] Other major orchestra guest appearances in Europe have included Rotterdam Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Career in the United States[edit]

Edusei first guest-conducted the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) in September 2021. In December 2021, the FWSO announced his appointment as its next principal guest conductor, effective with the 2022-2023 season, with an initial contract of 3 years.[16]

Guest appearances in 2021/22 season[edit]

Edusei made appearances with the following orchestras in the 2021/22 season:[17]

Recordings[edit]

Orchestra Album Soloist (if any) Label Release year
Munich Symphony Orchestra Schubert Symphonies Nos 3 & 7 Solo Musica 2020
Bern Symphony Orchestra Shostakovich, Weinberg & Kobekin Anastasia Kobekina, cello Claves Records 2019
Munich Symphony Orchestra 1939 Fabiola Kim, violin Solo Musica 2019
Munich Symphony Orchestra Schubert Symphonies Nos 5 & 6 Solo Musica 2018
Bern Symphony Orchestra Korngold & Mozart: Violin Concertos Claves Records 2018
Munich Symphony Orchestra Schubert: Symphonies Nos 4 & 7 Solo Musica 2017
Chineke! Orchestra Dvořák & Sibelius Signum Records 2017
Tonkünstler Orchestra Enjott Schneider: Bach, Dracula, Vivaldi & Co. Csaba Kelemen, trumpet, Stefan Langbein, trombone WERGO 2016
Tonkünstler Orchestra Enjott Schneider: Shadows in the Dark WERGO 2016
Munich Symphony Orchestra Tchaikovsky: Extracts from the Nutcracker Solo Musica 2016
Munich Symphony Orchestra Einschoch6: Die Stadt springt Einschoch6 Solo Musica 2015

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Toby Deller (4 September 2017). "Meet the Maestro: Kevin John Edusei". Classical Music Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Fort Worth Symphony names Kevin John Edusei its Principal Guest Conductor | Dallas News". dallasnews.com. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Teresa Pieschacón Raphael (29 September 2014). "Porträt Kevin John Edusei: Ein Obama für München". Concerti Magazine. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Kevin John Edusei siegt in Athen". Augsburger Allegemeine. 17 November 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  5. ^ Julia Schölzel and Anja Neuwald (12 November 2014). "Neuer Chefdirigent Kevin John Edusei". BR-Klassik (Bavarian Radio). Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  6. ^ "Edusei dirigiert München". Augsburger Allegemeine. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Karrieresprung für Bielefelder Dirigent". Neue Wesfälische. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  8. ^ "Chefdirigent Kevin John Edusei verlängert bis 2021/22". BR-Klassik (Bavarian Radio). 7 June 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  9. ^ Oliver Meier (20 October 2015). "Prunkvoller Einstand des Chefdirigenten". Berner Zeitung. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Kevin John Edusei Chefdirigent des Musiktheaters mit der Saison 15/16 am Konzert Theater Bern" (PDF) (Press release). Konzert Theater Bern. 23 January 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  11. ^ operatraveller (18 March 2018). "The Great Hereafter: A Staged Verdi Requiem at the Hamburgische Staatsoper". operatraveller.com. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Tosca at the Staatsoper Hannover". Staatstheater Hannover. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  13. ^ "The London Coliseum hosts new production of Mozart's comedy opera The Marriage of Figaro". English National Opera. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  14. ^ Martin Kettle (31 August 2017). "RSPO/Oramo/Chineke!/Edusei review – rounded, exquisite, played to perfection". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  15. ^ Kate Molleson (6 July 2017). "Dvořák: Symphony No 9; Sibelius: Finlandia review – tasteful restraint and explosive dynamism". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Kevin John Edusei Appointed Principal Guest Conductor of Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra" (PDF) (Press release). Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  17. ^ "Kevin John Edusei - about". Intermusica. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2022.

External links[edit]

Cultural offices
Preceded by
Georg Schmöhe
 Chief Conductor, Munich Symphony Orchestra
2014-present 		Succeeded by
incumbent
Preceded by
Srboljub Dinić
 Chief Conductor, Konzert Theater Bern
2015-2019 		Succeeded by
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