Page 22 - NWS January 2025 Digital Playbill

ABOUT the ARTISTS

MICHAEL CHRISTIE Artistic and Music Director
A GRAMMY award-winning and innovative conductor,
®
Michael Christie is at home in both the symphonic and
opera worlds. As Artistic and Music Director of the New
West Symphony, he is focused on making the audience
experience entertaining, enlightening and enriching. The
New West Symphony Board of Directors recently announced
the extension of Christie’s contract through 2029.
Of his opening concert as Music Director in 2019, the Los
Angeles Times reported that the orchestra is “embracing
the mission of refreshing the modern concert experience
for a new generation.”
In November 2024, Christie conducted the world premiere of The Amazing
Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, with music by Mason Bates and a libretto by Gene
Scheer, at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. The opera will subsequently
be performed at The Metropolitan Opera.
Christie’s more than 25-year symphonic conducting career has included serving
as Music Director of the Minnesota Opera (2011-18), Phoenix Symphony (2005-
13), Brooklyn Philharmonic (2005-10), and as Chief Conductor of the Queensland
Orchestra (2001-04) in Australia, as well as guest appearances leading top orchestras
such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, the Symphonies
of Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, and more. He is Music Director Emeritus of the Colorado
Music Festival.
Michael Christie is married to Alexis, a physician, and they have two children.
michaelchristieonline.com

VIENESS PIANO DUO
Hailed as performers with “impeccable synchronized
timing” and “staggering technical prowess combined
with emotional depth,” Vieness Piano Duo has
enthralled audiences in their electric and captivating
performances of a wide range of repertoire. Their
intuition for conversation coupled with a commanding
stage presence has made them regularly in demand
throughout the world. Vijay Venkatesh and Eva
Schaumkell together performed more than 50 recitals
last season, as well as a three-week tour of the Midwest
and concerts in Germany. In addition to their performing
activities, the husband and wife team regularly teach
masterclasses and are featured guest artists on Silver
Sea and Cunard Cruise Lines.

22 | New West Symphony