Gisèle Ben-Dor, Conductor Emerita of Pro Arte, is also Music Director of the Santa Barbara Symphony and a frequent guest conductor around the world. Born in Uruguay of Polish parents, she is a graduate of the Rubin Academy of Music, Tel Aviv, and of the Yale School of Music.
Gisèle Ben-Dor's dramatic guest appearances at the New York Philharmonic have included a March 1999 subscription program of Mahler and Beethoven, where she conducted without rehearsal or scores, and her sensational last-minute debut with the orchestra in 1994. On other occasions, Gisèle Ben-Dor has appeared with the New York Philharmonic in Central Park before an estimated audience of 100,000 and has led members of the orchestra in a three-hour concert marathon of contemporary British music.
Ms. Ben-Dor's New York performances have received overwhelming critical praise. Following a Philharmonic appearance, in which she substituted for Daniele Gatti, the New York Times wrote "If Ms. Ben-Dor had merely survived in a work as complex as the Mahler under the circumstances, she would have done well; she did more, making the interpretation...her own."
She has also led the London Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Pops, New World Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Orchestra, and the Houston Symphony Orchestra. In addition to being re-engaged by many of these orchestras, she has led many others in the United States, Latin America, Europe and Australia. Ms. Ben-Dor's upcoming engagements include opera performances in Geneva, Helsinki, Madrid, Mexico, Italy and France. She opened the 2000-2001 season of the Grand Theatre of Geneva with the European premiere of Alberto Ginastera's Beatrix Cenci, with six performances in September 2000.
In April 1999, BMG/Conifer issued the world premiere recording of the complete score for Alberto Ginastera's ballet Estancia, featuring Ms. Ben-Dor with the London Symphony Orchestra. Classic CD stated that "Gisèle Ben-Dor is a conductor who spectacularly proves her credentials with two Ginastera ballets," adding, "[These are] top-flight performances as thrilling as they're sensitive" Gramophone gave "a whole-hearted recommendation of the disc," much as it praised Ms. Ben-Dor's first recording of music by Ginastera, also with the London Symphony, (Koch) which featured the Variaciones Concertantes and Glosses on Themes of Pablo Casals. Ms. Ben-Dor has also recently recorded the music of Silvestre Revueltas for Koch, including the world premiere recording of the original version of Revueltas' final work, the ballet La Coronela. These recordings promise to fulfill Mark Swed's assertion in the Los Angeles Times that she is "just the conductor we have been waiting for to make a really persuasive case for Latin composers." Swed also called Gisèle Ben-Dor "a star on the rise," adding that "there is surely no holding back a conductor with so ferocious a talent." She has also recorded music of John Adams, David Ott, Béla Bartók, and Ezra Symms, and will conduct the world premiere recording of Villa-Lobos' Symphony No. 10, "Amerindia," released in September 2000.
Currently Ms. Ben-Dor is the Music Director of the Santa Barbara Symphony, where she recently led a major Revueltas Festival in Santa Barbara, which featured not only the composer's major orchestral works, but the long-unseen films that he scored and concerts of his chamber pieces and children's music. The Festival elicited praise worldwide for its imaginative approach and wide-ranging commitment to the composer's works.
Born and raised in Uruguay, Ms. Ben-Dor studied at the Tel-Aviv Academy of Music and at the Yale School of Music. Her talent was recognized by Leonard Bernstein with whom she shared the stage at Tanglewood and at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. She made her conducting debut with the Israel Philharmonic in Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring which was televised by the BBC/London. Gisèle Ben-Dor currently resides in the United States.
Please visit Ms. Ben-Dor on the Internet at: http://www.giseleben-dor.com.
Recordings
Her recordings include the KOCH International Classics (KIC CD 7488), Heitor Villa-Lobos' Symphony No. 10, "Amerindia." This is the world premiere recording of the Brazilian-born composer's "Oratorio in Five Parts." The disc was produced by Grammy award-winning producer Michael Fine, formerly of Deutsche Grammophon and founder of KOCH International Classics. Recorded at the Oxnard (CA) Performing Arts Center in January 2000, the recording features the Santa Barbara Choral Society, UCSB Chamber Choir, and the Donald Brinegar Singers, along with tenor Carlo Scibelli, baritone Nmon Ford-Livene and mezzo-soprano Carla Wood.
Alberto Ginastera: Panambi, Estancia, London Symphony Orchestra, BMG/Conifer Classics
Silvestre Revueltas: La Coronela, Itinerarios, Colorines, Santa Barbara Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Koch International Classics.