Julian Kuerti, Music Director
With a strong international reputation for his interpretations of both orchestral and operatic music, Canadian conductor Julian Kuerti combines a confident style, artistic integrity, and passion for collaboration bringing him to the forefront of the music scene. Kuerti has led major symphony orchestras and has appeared in renowned opera houses and concert halls on five continents, and enjoys close working relationships with many of the leading soloists and singers of today.
In 2018, Kuerti was named Music Director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Awadagin Pratt, Piano
Among his generation of concert artists, pianist Awadagin Pratt is acclaimed for his musical insight and intensely involving performances in recitals and with symphony orchestras.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pratt began studying piano at the age of six. Three years later, having moved to Normal, Illinois with his family, he also began studying violin. At the age of 16, he entered the University of Illinois, where he studied piano, violin, and conducting. He subsequently enrolled at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he became the first student in the school’s history to receive diplomas in three performance areas – piano, violin, and conducting. In recognition of this achievement and for his work in the field of classical music, Pratt received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Johns Hopkins as well as an honorary doctorate from Illinois Wesleyan University after delivering the commencement address in 2012.
Living Voices | Composer Jessie Montgomery
Jessie Montgomery is an acclaimed composer, violinist, and educator. She is the recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Award from the ASCAP Foundation and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence. Her works are performed frequently around the world by leading musicians and ensembles. Montgomery's music interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, poetry, and social consciousness, making her an acute interpreter of 21st-century American sound and experience. Her profoundly felt works have been described as “turbulent, wildly colorful and exploding with life” (The Washington Post).
