Kenneth Kiesler

Kenneth Kiesler (born August 18, 1953) is an American symphony orchestra and opera conductor and mentor to conductors. Kiesler is conductor laureate of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra where he was music director from 1980 to 2000 and founder and director of the Conductors Retreat at Medomak. In 2014, Kiesler was nominated for a Grammy Award for his recording of Darius Milhaud's opera L'Orestie d'Eschyle. He is director of orchestras and professor of conducting at the University of Michigan.

Early life and education Kenneth Kiesler was born in New York City. His father, Harry Isiah Kiesler, was of Polish/Austrian descent and his mother, Rose Segal Kiesler, was of French and German descent. He studied music from an early age; he played trumpet, sang in choruses and, at age 15, Kiesler conducted his first concert, Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols when the director took ill prior to the concert. Kiesler graduated from Nanuet Senior High School in 1971.

Kiesler studied music at the University of New Hampshire where he received the Bachelor of Music in conducting and music history in 1975. He received his master's degree in orchestra conducting in 1980 from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Johns Hopkins University. At age 19, he conducted the first performance of Gershwin's original jazz-band score of Rhapsody in Blue since 1925, with permission of Ira Gershwin and Warner Brothers Music, which garnered national attention. Kiesler was recipient of a conducting fellowship at the Aspen Music School and the 1991 Carnegie Hall Centenary conducting class with Pierre Boulez and Ensemble intercontemporain.

Career Kiesler is also a sought-after mentor and teacher to conductors. The French music critic Roger Bouchard said of him, "There do exist great American conductors, and Kiesler is one of them! Standing on behalf of the music he serves, he conducts from memory with unaffected gestures both precise and passionate. Nothing is unnecessary in his conducting; yet everything is there. Very beautiful work!"

Kiesler is the conductor of many acclaimed recordings on the Naxos, Dorian, Equilibrium and Pierian labels; with the BBC Singers in London, Third Angle New Music Ensemble, and both the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theatre.

Kiesler has conducted many of the world's leading ensembles including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Washington's National Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Haifa Symphony Orchestra in Israel, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra in Japan, Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra and Pusan Symphony Orchestra in Korea, Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra in China, New Symphony Orchestra in Bulgaria, Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra in Mexico, OSESP in São Paulo, Brazil, Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra in San Juan, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Florida Symphony Orchestra, Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, Long Island Philharmonic Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Symphony Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Symphony Orchestra. From 2002 to 2007 Kiesler was music director of the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra. Kristin Kuster, Stephen Rush, Gunther Schuller and Steven Stucky. Kiesler conducted the U.S. premiere of Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 3 with pianist Anton Nel in 1997. In 2006, he also conducted the world premiere of Johnson's The Dreamy Kid; libretto by Eugene O'Neill.

Teacher Since 1995, Kiesler has been professor of conducting and director of orchestras at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Kiesler has been director of conducting programs of international master classes Berlin since 2012. as well as at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Oxford University, the Waterville Valley Music Center and in the cities of Chicago, Houston, Leipzig, Moscow, Rome, São Paulo and Salt Lake City. Nikolai Malko Conducting Competition (Mei-Ann Chen), Maazel-Vilar Conducting Competition (Joana Carneiro, Bundit Ungrangsee), Eduardo Mata Conducting Competition (Yaniv Dinur), and hold positions with orchestras, opera companies and educational institutions worldwide. Another notable student of his is Alondra de la Parra.

Kiesler is the founder and director of the Conductors Retreat at Medomak,

Awards and recognitions Kiesler has been awarded: 1986: Silver Medal, Stokowski Competition 1987: Mayor's Award for the Arts, Springfield, Illinois 1987: Governor's Arts Award, Illinois 2000: State of Illinois General Assembly Legislation (Proclamation) 2011: The American Prize in Orchestral Performance/Conducting 2014: Grammy nomination for his recording of Milhaud's L'Orestie d'Eschyle with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, percussion ensemble, choirs and soloists released by Naxos He currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Selected discography Levy: Shir Shel Moshe (Song of Moses) / BBC Singers, Kiesler, Naxos (2004) Bolcom, Bassett, Daugherty: Concertos / Kiesler, Et Al, Equilibrium (2004) Ben-Amots: Celestial Dialogues / Hashkivenu, Milken Archive, Naxos (2004) Ellstein: The Golem (scenes), Jewish Operas, Vol. 1, Milken Archive, Naxos (2004) Amram: Shir L'erev Shabbat / The Final Ingredient, Milken Archive, Naxos (2004) Schoenfield: The Merchant and the Pauper, Milken Archive, Naxos (2004) Weinberg: Shabbat Ba'aretz, Milken Archive, Naxos (2005) Schiff: Gimpel the Fool (scenes), Jewish Operas, Vol. 2, Milken Archive, Naxos (2006) Schiff: Gimpel the Fool (complete) Third Angle, Naxos (2007) Evan Chambers: The Old Burying Ground / Kiesler, University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Dorian Sono Luminus (2010) Nissman plays Ginastera: The Three Piano Concertos, Pierian (2013) Milhaud: L'Orestie d'Eschyle, University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, percussion ensemble and choirs, Naxos (2014)