Conductor Mariss Jansons Has Died

Sad news from Saint Petersburg – Great conductor Mariss Jansons has died.

Jansons was considered one of the very best conductors of the past several decades, holding posts of chief conductor of some of the greatest orchestras in the world, such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He is one of the conductors most credited with turning the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra to a highly formidable ensemble, in his 23 years tenure as music director (1979-2002).

Born in hiding after his mother was smuggled out of the Riga Jewish Ghetto, Jansons studied violin, piano and conducting, first with his father (a conductor in his own right), and later in the Leningrad Conservatory (today the “Rimsky-Korsakov-Saint Petersburg State Conservatory”).

After winning a second prize of the prestigious Herbert von Karajan international conducting competition, he took a position as an associate conductor in the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, and slowly earned a reputation as a superb conductor in his work with the best orchestras in Europe and the United States.

R.I.P