“With virtuosic technique, Mechetti led the CSO in Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 like an impeccable craftsman…Meticulous musicianship, a pleasure to watch.”
Charlotte Symphony Orchestra
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Music Director of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra since 1999, Brazilian-born conductor Fabio Mechetti is consistently cited for the depth of his artistry and broad knowledge of the repertoire. During his tenure in Jacksonville, he led the orchestra in ten highly-acclaimed grand opera productions and a fully-staged production of Puccini's La Bohème in 2012. Previous positions include Music Director of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra (1993-2004), where he retains the title of Music Director Laureate, and the Syracuse Symphony, where he began as Associate Conductor and became Music Director in 1993.
In 2008, Mr. Mechetti was appointed Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, with the task of creating a new, fully professional symphonic orchestra in Brazil's third largest city. In the period since its founding, the orchestra has become a reference point for symphonic activities in Brazil, garnering praise and prizes for its outstanding progress.
In addition to his Carnegie Hall debut with the New Jersey Symphony in 1993, Fabio Mechetti has appeared with the symphonies of Alabama, Austin, Charlotte, Chautauqua Festival, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Omaha, Pacific, Phoenix, Quebec, San Antonio, San Jose, Seattle and Utah, as well as the Buffalo Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic, and various orchestras in Mexico, Spain, Brazil and Venezuela. Worldwide, he has recently traveled to New Zealand to lead the Auckland Philharmonia, to Scotland to conduct the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and to Finland to conduct the Tampere Philharmonic. Mr. Mechetti has also made several successful tours of Japan that included concerts with both the Tokyo and Sapporo symphonies, and has appeared as guest conductor with the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra. Having made his European debut with the Danish Radio Orchestra in 1990, he continues to be a frequent guest of Scandinavian orchestras.
Highlights of Mr. Mechetti’s 2012/13 season include engagements with the Puerto Rico Symphony, Rome Symphony and a South American tour with the Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais that includes performances in Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.
Also a highly acclaimed operatic conductor, Fabio Mechetti made his American debut with the Washington Opera in 1990, and has served as music director of the Municipal Opera House in Rio de Janeiro. Among opera productions he has directed are: Barber of Seville, Carmen, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, La Traviata, Madama Butterfly, Tosca and Turandot.
Winner of the 1989 Malko International Conducting Competition in Denmark, Mr. Mechetti served as resident conductor of the San Diego Symphony in 1986 and associate conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra from 1985 through 1989. During his years with the National Symphony, he led over seventy-five concerts at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, also conducting performances on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, and at Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts. His young people’s concerts in Washington won the National Endowment for the Arts Award for Best Educational Programming in the United States in 1985.
Fabio Mechetti has collaborated with such masters as Mstislav Rostropovich, Alicia de Larrocha, Magda Tagliaferro, Nicanor Zabaleta, Frederica von Stade, Thomas Hampson, Kathleen Battle, Gil Shaham, Sarah Chang, Hilary Hahn, Arnaldo Cohen, Nelson Freire and Andre Watts, to name a few. He holds masters degrees in both conducting and composition from The Juilliard School.
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