Nelson Nirenberg – Studio Class

Studio Class with Nelson Nirenberg.

NELSON NIRENBERG is among the most dynamic and creative musicians of his generation, highly acclaimed for his innovative programming and fresh interpretations of the great masterworks. His career spans Europe, Israel, and the Americas. The New York Times applauded his "skill and devotion," concluding that his interpretation "whetted one's appetite for more"; and the Los Angeles Times described his conducting as "Startling (...) an unqualified success (...) exuberant!"

President and Music Director Emeritus of the Rio de Janeiro Chamber Orchestra, Maestro Nirenberg served as Special Advisor for the Secretary of State of Culture of Rio de Janeiro. He succeeded legendary Maestro Eleazar de Carvalho (Juilliard, Yale, and Tanglewood’s Professor of Conducting) as Music Director and Professor of Conducting of de Carvalho’s International Music Festival, and is the Distiguished President of the I Brazilian Congress of Young Conductors.

Maestro Nirenberg also served as Artistic Director and Conductor of New York’s Lincoln Center Villa-Lobos Centennial Festival with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and New York Chamber Symphony’s Brazil 500th Celebration Concert; Music Director of The Chamber Orchestra of New Jersey, and Director of the Orchestral and Conducting Studies Program of Montclair State University. Other positions held are Music Director and Conductor of the American Chamber Symphony in Los Angeles, Music Director and Conductor-Designate of the National Theatre Symphony Orchestra of Brazil, and Director of Orchestras and Conducting Program of the Brasília International Summer Festival.

Highlights include guest-conducting the English Chamber Orchestra in London, New York Chamber Symphony in Lincoln Center, Mexico State Symphony’s tour, The Chamber Orchestra of New Jersey’s Opening Concert in Newark Museum of Art, The National Orchestra of Costa Rica, and the Inaugural Concert with the State Symphony Orchestra of the 16th International Music Festival of Bahia.

Maestro Nirenberg also led the Inaugural Concert of the ArtsFest 2000, Montclair State University’s 90th Anniversary Celebration Concert, and the concerts honoring world-renowned author Jorge Amado's 85th birthday in Salvador (Mr. Amado’s native city); and the State Visit of Brazil’s President to the Royal Family in Great-Britain.

In recognition of Maestro Nirenberg’s artistic achievements, musical and educational contributions to the world the Bolshoi Theatre School awarded him the Medal of Cultural Merit, the National Academy of Music appointed him as an Honorary Member, and the President of Brazil knighted him as Sir of The Order of Rio Branco, the Country’s highest honor.

Maestro Nirenberg has participated in many international music festivals including Tanglewood, Besançon, Monteux, Interlochen, Cunard’s Music-at-Sea, and Israel, appearing often on worldwide radio and television broadcasts. Following the Pope's Christmas Mass at the Vatican, he guest conducted a televised program reaching an audience of over 100 million viewers; and on PBS a program about the status of orchestras in America. The Star-Ledger qualified him as “Extraordinary”.

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1954, Maestro Nirenberg began his musical studies at seven with his father and uncle, pupils of Carl Flesh and D'Ambrosio, and was considered a child-prodigy. Later, he studied violin with Shmuel Ashkenasi and conducting with Leonard Bernstein, Charles Bruch, Gustav Meier, Henrique Nirenberg, and Seiji Ozawa.

His debut as a violinist at the age of ten was a sensation, and at 15 he was the youngest musician ever invited to participate in Argentina's Bariloche International Festival, performing and touring with Yehudi Menuhin’s protegeé Alberto Lysy, and its renowned Camerata.

As a violinist, he also led the Vivaldi String Quartet, Duo Nirenberg and Trio da Camara. At the age of 18, Nirenberg made a highly acclaimed debut as conductor and soloist with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, and at the Interlochen Festival, as well as in the Israel Music Festival with the World Symphony Orchestra.

After conducting the Inaugural Concert of the Ambassador Cultural Foundation Gold Medal Series, the Los Angeles Times stated that under Nirenberg's baton "the tradition encrusted Fifth Symphony (Tchaikovsky) seemed new again. (...) The orchestra played splendidly, with a zest and attentiveness that brought out the often-missed ebullience of this work."

Another Los Angeles Times critic described Mr. Nirenberg as a "natural and unaffected Mozartian, one of adamant transparencies and palpable subtext. (...) One does not expect to hear Mozart played so handsomely outside the mainstream, but thus heard, one would be irresponsible to deny it."

Invited by Maestro Mehli Mehta (Zubin's father and teacher), Mr. Nirenberg conducted the famous conductor’s 85th Birthday Celebration Concert, being nominated to be his successor as Music Director and Conductor of the American Youth Symphony Orchestra. Presently this concert is being broadcast worldwide by Classic Arts Showcase Television. "A Concert Gem! Nirenberg conceived a program that was imaginative and musically challenging, juxtaposing periods, styles and instrumentation in a way that kept the musicians and audience totally involved" (Israel Today).

A champion in introducing contemporary and lesser-known works, Maestro Nirenberg has presented more than sixty premieres and revivals, ranging from Villa-Lobos to Krenek to Penderecki. Among composers that have dedicated works to him are Lalo Schifrin (Trópicos), Santino Parpinelli (Sinfonietta), and Aurélio De La Vega (Tropimapal, Kennedy Center’s Friedheim Award winner). Nirenberg's versatility and eclectic repertoire "Deserve a hearty bravo!" (World and Music).

Founder of Projeto Aquarius, the most famous open-air concert series in Brazil (Guiness Book nomination as the largest audience for classical music), Maestro Nirenberg was also Music Director and Conductor of the Villa-Lobos Institute Orchestra, Rio de Janeiro Chamber Orchestra, Paraná International Festival Orchestra, and Artistic Coordinator for the Terezópolis International Festival. His work at the Opera House and as Director of the 130-voice IIBCE Master Chorale earned him an invitation to join the New York City Opera roster. Noticias del Mundo described him as "Magnificent, a fiery passionate soul. He exudes his art. A great artist!"

Maestro Nirenberg is also an accomplished educator and artistic consultant for various institutions and foreign countries. He has received Two Global Education Center Awards, The MSU Faculty Scholarship Award, and The Career Development Grant Award, and was invited to be the Presidential Address respondent. He has successfully developed innovative programming ideas, including the popular Brown Bag Concert Series at MSU, achieving enthusiastic responses from students, faculty and the community at large. Author of numerous articles about conducting, symphonic, chamber music, management, and the development of musical talent, he is presently completing a book on the art of conducting.

Maestro Nirenberg frequently gives masterclasses and conducts the orchestras of the most prestigious conservatories, schools of music, and educational institutions in the USA and abroad, including the Manhattan Conservatory of Music, the Mannes College of Music, The Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra, and The Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra. The Brazilian-American conductor has held important academic positions such as Consultant to the Dean, and Professor of Conducting at Montclair State University, Resident Conductor at California Institute of the Arts, and served as Assistant Lecturer to Professor Eudice Shapiro’s violin class at the University of Southern California. He was a Professor and founder of the Conducting and Orchestra Program at the Villa-Lobos Institute of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Maestro Nirenberg served as adjudicator for several competitions, and artistic consultant for various organizations including the Santa Fé Chamber Music Festival, Hammer Museum, and the National Music Academy. He was requested to be listed in the Who’s Who in America Millennium Edition, and Who’s Who in the World.

Winner of the Fulbright Award in Conducting, Jeunesses Musicales Prix, "Outstanding Merit of Talent and Musicianship" from the University of Michigan, Sala Cecília Meirelles Prize, Organization of American States Fellowship, The Pierre Monteux Fellowship, and Best Conductor from the Young Musicians Foundation of Los Angeles, among other prestigious awards, Maestro Nirenberg holds a terminal graduate degree in conducting with distinction from University of Southern California/California Institute of the Arts, a Juris Doctor (JD) from Gama Filho University, and a Bachelor in Music (Talent Award) from The University of Michigan/Northern Illinois University. Mr. Nirenberg is also a respected and well-known attorney-at-law, serving as Senior Partner and President of Nirenberg Law Firm in Rio de Janeiro and a member of the Brazilian Bar Association.

He was honored by Brandeis University Women’s Committee with a plaque bearing his name at the University campus, and by the Rio de Janeiro House of Representatives for his "artistic achievements and cultural contributions." On the occasion of the World Olympic Games, the Los Angeles City Council bestowed upon Maestro Nirenberg the "Salute to the Olympics Award." He was also honored by the Mayor of Los Angeles with the City’s Highest Commendation "in recognition of (his) creative efforts as a conductor and for (his) talented contributions to the world of music.", and awarded by the People to People International and the President of the National Association for Music Education “in recognition of your (his) continued personal commitment and support in promoting the understanding between the people of our nations.”

Under Maestro Nirenberg’s conducting the New York Chamber Symphony at Lincoln Center, The New York Times’ music review headline was “Brazil Shows It Can Be Classical, Too.”