Ilyich Rivas (born June 9, 1993) is a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n-American conductor. He made his professional debut at the age of 16 in front of the

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, USA. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing ...

, and has subsequently made successful debuts with a number of important orchestras in Europe, Australia and America.

Early life and studies

He comes from a musical family. He is a fourth generation of conductors; their parents moved to the United States when he was one year old (1994), his mother Marjorie Carrero as a Spanish and Hispano-American Literature professor and his father Alejandro Rivas as a conductor. From a very early age showed a great interest in conducting. He took regular lessons from his father from the age of six and joined him to all his orchestral rehearsals and performances. He studied piano and won several piano awards throughout his teens. In 2009 he attracted the attention of

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop ( �mɛər.ɪn ˈæːl.sɑːp born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor, the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate ...

and Gustav Meier at the International Cabrillo Conductors Festival. They invited him to audition in front of the

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it bega ...

for the two-year position of

Peabody Institute Conducting fellow. This position enabled him to study conducting at the Peabody Conservatory under the guidance of Gustav Meier and to work closely with

and the Baltimore Symphony. From 2009 had a four-year mentoring program over the summers under

Vladimir Jurowski Vladimir Mikhailovich Jurowski (; born 4 April 1972) is a Russian conductor. He is the son of conductor Michail Jurowski, and grandson of Soviet film music composer Vladimir Michailovich Jurowski. Early life Born in Moscow, Jurowski began hi ...

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, ...

. His father Alejandro Rivas continues to be his principal guide and mentor.

Career

Ilyich has led many performances including with the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symp ...

, Prague Radio Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León and the

Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia is a Spanish orchestra, created in 1992 and based in A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most popula ...

. In addition, he has conducted the Verbier Festival Orchestra, the orchestras of London's Royal College of Music and the

Australian National Academy of Music The Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) is a classical music performance training facility situated in Melbourne. History ANAM was established in 1994, as part of prime minister Paul Keating's "Creative Nation" initiative. On 23 Oct ...

in Melbourne, the Youth Orchestra of the Americas (YOA), the Youth Orchestra of Bahia, Brazil, the Chetham's Symphony Orchestra in Manchester, UK, and the

YouTube Symphony Orchestra The YouTube Symphony Orchestra (YTSO) is an orchestra assembled by open auditions hosted by YouTube, the London Symphony Orchestra and several other worldwide partners. Launched on December 1, 2008, it is the first-ever online collaborative orche ...

in Sydney at the invitation of Michael Tilson Thomas. Ilyich was assistant conductor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra during the 2012–2013 season and assistant conductor with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra during the 2009–2011 seasons. Recent highlights include his debuts with the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, the

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Edmonton, Alberta. As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city it presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to cou ...

, and the Cameristi della Scala, a chamber orchestra comprising musicians from the orchestra of Milan's Teatro alla Scala. As an Opera conductor, Ilyich Rivas was invited by Glyndebourne Touring Opera to conduct ''

Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'' in 2012, and Humperdinck's ''Hänsel und Gretel'' the following season. In 2014, he made his debut with Opera North conducting several performances of

La Bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep ...

. In May 2022, he made his debut at the Philharmonie de Paris as guest conductor to conclude the 2021/2022 season of the Orchestre National d'Île-de-France and its tour of France's

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...

region. He has performed with such artists of international renown as

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, ...

Stephen Hough Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough (; born 22 November 1961) is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality (his father was born in Australia in 1926). Biography Houg ...

, Simon Trpceski,

Steven Isserlis Steven Isserlis (born 19 December 1958) is a British cellist. He has led a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, author and broadcaster. Acclaimed for his profound musicianship, he is also noted for his diverse reper ...

Elisabeth Leonskaja Elisabeth Leonskaja (born 23 November 1945) (In Russian: Елизавета Ильинична Леонская) is a Soviet and Austrian pianist. She was born to a family of Jewish and Polish extraction living in Tbilisi, then the capital of t ...

, and Alissa Weilerstein among others. As recently as 2017 he has conducted the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland as part of their Summer tour.

Awards

Has been awarded the Bruno Walter Conducting Prize and the Prix Julius Baer in Switzerland, given by the Verbier Festival.

References

External links

Ilyich Rivas
on YouTube
I, Culture Orchestra . Ilyich Rivas . Concert in Minsk
on YouTube * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivas, Ilyich 1993 births Living people Venezuelan conductors (music) Male conductors (music) American male conductors (music) 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American male musicians