Jader Bignamini
{{Short description|Italian conductor and clarinetist}}
{{use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
Jader Bignamini (born 1976 in Crema, Lombardy, Italy) is an Italian conductor and clarinetist.
Biography
As a child, Bignamini became interested in the clarinet. He formally studied music at the Conservatorio Nicolini Piacenza.{{cite news | url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/music/2020/01/22/dso-detroit-symphony-orchestra-jader-bignamini-music-director/4534405002/ | title=DSO players greet new music director with riotous applause | work=The Detroit News | author=Michael H. Hodges | date=2020-01-20 | accessdate=2020-05-12}} He joined the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi (La Verdi) as a clarinetist. He further developed his interest in conducting whilst a member of La Verdi, and became an assistant conductor of La Verdi in 2010.{{cite news | url=https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2020/01/22/detroit-symphony-orchestra-jader-bignamini-conductor-music-director/4537587002/ | title=A new Detroit maestro: DSO names young Italian conductor Jader Bignamini as music director | work=Detroit Free Press | author=Brian McCollum | date=2020-01-22 | accessdate=2020-05-12}} He later became associate conductor of La Verdi. His professional debut as a conductor was at age 28. He now has the title of resident conductor with La Verdi,{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/arts/music/detroit-symphony-jader-bignamini.html | title=The Detroit Symphony Needed a Fill-In. It Found a Music Director. | work=The New York Times | author=Michael Cooper | date=2020-01-28 | accessdate=2020-05-12}} where his conducting mentors have included Riccardo Chailly.
In North America, Bignamini first conducted at Santa Fe Opera in July 2015.{{cite news | url=https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/opera-review-a-dark-and-stormy-night-at-sfo-s/article_472f1aeb-b33c-5c91-8ab5-24dc0b8d3544.html | title=Opera review: A dark and stormy night at SFO's Rigoletto | work=The Santa Fe New Mexican | author=James M. Keller | date=2015-07-05 | accessdate=2020-05-12}} His first conducting appearance at the Metropolitan Opera was in November 2017.{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/arts/music/review-met-opera-turandot-boheme-butterfly.html | title=Review: A Puccini Suite at the Met Strikes a Note of Desperation | work=The New York Times | author=Zachary Woolfe | author-link=Zachary Woolfe | date=2017-11-03 | accessdate=2020-05-12}} In June 2018, he guest-conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as an emergency substitute for Leonard Slatkin. He returned to Detroit in October 2019 for a further guest-conducting engagement with the orchestra. Then, in January 2020, the orchestra announced the appointment of Bignamini as its next music director, effective in the 2020-2021 season, with an initial contract of 6 seasons.{{cite press release | url=https://www.dso.org/watch-listen-and-connect/newsroom-2/jader-bignamini-named-music-director-of-the-detroit-symphony-orchestra/ | title=Jader Bignamini named Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra | publisher=Detroit Symphony Orchestra | date=22 January 2020 | accessdate=2020-05-12}} This appointment marked the conductor's first music directorship. In December 2023, the orchestra announced the extension of Bignamini's contract as music director through to the 2030-2031 season while announcing a plan to record Wynton Marsalis' Blues Symphony.{{cite press release | url=https://www.dso.org/watch-listen-and-connect/newsroom-2/detroit-symphony-orchestra-and-music-director-jader-bignamini-renew-partnership-through-the-2030-31-season-and-announce-plans-to-release-first-recording-together-wynton-marsaliss-blues-symphony | title=Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Jader Bignamini renew partnership through the 2030–31 season and announce plans to release first recording together, Wynton Marsalis's Blues Symphony | publisher=Detroit Symphony Orchestra | date=7 December 2023 | accessdate=2023-12-08}} The album came out in March 2025.{{Cite web |title=Detroit Symphony Orchestra & Jader Bignamini - Wynton Marsalis: Blues Symphony |url=https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/1274457-detroit-symphony-orchestra-wynton-marsalis-blues-symphony.php |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=Album of The Year |language=en}}
Bignamini and his wife Lidia, herself a clarinetist, have two children.{{cite news | url=https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2020/04/26/dso-maestro-jader-bignamini-host-watch-party-quarantine/3012457001/?fbclid=IwAR0S9BAScl6Gs2jCxEfQNwGORBs4VibiLghc4nP06cBvGdXwwMavz0RYErM | title=New DSO maestro on the power of music in this moment: 'Listen so it goes into the heart'| work=Detroit Free Press | author=Brian McCollum | date=2020-04-26 | accessdate=2020-05-12}} The family resides in Cremona.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.jaderbignamini.it/ Official webpage of Jader Bignamini]
- [https://www.opus3artists.com/artists/jader-bignamini/ Opus 3 Artists agency page on Jader Bignamini]
{{Detroit Symphony conductors}}
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Category:21st-century Italian conductors (music)
Category:21st-century Italian male musicians
Category:Italian classical clarinetists
Category:Italian male conductors (music)