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Kevin John Edusei

Conductor
Principal Guest Conductor, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

  • German conductor Kevin John Edusei is sought-after the world over. He is praised repeatedly for the drama and tension in his music-making and the sense of architecture, warmth and insight that he brings to his performances. He is deeply committed to the creative elements of performance, presenting classical music in new formats, cultivating audiences and conducting an eclectic range of repertoire.

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  • Highlights of Edusei’s 2024/25 season include debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan Philharmonic Orchestra and at the Musikverein with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.  His return engagements include the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in his final season as Principal Guest Conductor.  A strong advocate of contemporary music, Edusei’s carefully curated programmes across the 24/25 season include premieres of works by Hannah Kendall, Thomas Larcher, Samy Moussa, Brian Nabors, Derrick Skye and Gabriella Smith.


    Edusei is a regular guest conductor across the world with orchestras including the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.  He has a long-standing relationship with the Chineke! Orchestra with whom he performs this season at London’s South Bank Centre, Konzerthaus Berlin, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and at BOZAR, Brussels.  Edusei is the former Chief Conductor of the Munich Symphony Orchestra and the Bern Opera House.


    In Autumn 2022, Edusei made his debut at the Royal Opera House conducting Puccini's La bohème, which was streamed across cinemas world-wide, and in 2023/24 he returned for a production of Madama Butterfly. Previously he has enjoyed great success with productions at the Semperoper Dresden, English National Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Volksoper Wien and Komische Oper Berlin. During his tenure at the Bern Opera House, he led highly acclaimed new productions including Peter Grimes, Ariadne auf Naxos, Salome, Bluebeard’s Castle, Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde, Kátya Kábanová and a cycle of the Mozart-Da-Ponte operas.


    Born in Bielefeld, Germany, Edusei studied sound engineering, classical percussion and orchestral conducting at the University of the Arts Berlin and the Royal Conservatory The Hague with Jac van Steen and Ed Spanjaard.  In 2004 he was awarded a conducting fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival by David Zinman, in 2007 he was a prize-winner at the Lucerne Festival conducting competition under the artistic direction of Pierre Boulez and in 2008 he won the first prize of the Dimitri Mitropoulos Competition in Athens. Edusei is an alumnus of the Deutsche Bank Akademie Musiktheater heute and the Dirigentenforum of the German Music Council. He resides with his family in Munich.


     

    2024/25 season / 443 words. Not to be altered without permission.

    Please include links to his personal homepage: www.kevinjohnedusei.com, Twitter: @kevinjohnedusei and Facebook: facebook.com/kevinjohnedusei in all printed and digital use of biography.

Performances

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Livestreams & Broadcasts

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra | November 2023


Mahler Symphony No. 7


Click to watch on YLE


 


Detroit Symphony Orchestra | October 2023


Arlene Sierra Kiskadee
Korngold Violin Concerto (soloist: Clara-Jumi Kang)
Zemlinsky Die Seejungfrau


Click to watch on DSO Live


 


Baltimore Symphony Orchestra | June 2023


Kodály Variations on a Hungarian Folksong "The Peacock"
Prokofiev Piano Concerto No.3 in C major (soloist: Isata Kanneh-Mason)
Brahms Symphony No.4 in E minor


Click to watch on BSO OffStage


 


Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo | April 2023


Beethoven Violin Concerto (soloist: Ning Feng)
Ligeti Concerto românesc
Janáček Sinfonietta


Click to watch on YouTube


 


London Symphony Orchestra | October 2022


Samy Moussa Crimson
Bartók Violin Concerto No. 2 (soloist: Roman Simovic)
Stravinsky Petrushka (1947 version)


Click to watch on Marquee TV

Adams’s huge Technicolor vision [Harmonielehre] sounded completely convincing, and the conductor Kevin John Edusei dappled the sound like a master technician teasing out details in the grandeur.

The Times, 5 Stars, February 2022

"[In Zemlinksy's Die Seejungfrau] Edusei swept up the players in waves of sound, coloured by harp glissandos and glinting motives in the winds… The first movement was rich with atmosphere, and the conductor was careful to keep its opulent textures transparent. The peaks and swells of the storm scene […] were thrilling."

Cincinnati Business Courier, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, March 2023

"Edusei intelligently shaped the Shakespearean drama [of Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet]. The striding theme of 'Montagues and Capulets' went with swagger undergirded by stentorian brass, and the strings were tautly precise in the playful scampering of 'Juliet as a Young Girl.' 'Masks' had an apt feel of coquettish flirtation, and Edusei helped the Balcony Scene to unfold with a palpable sense of nocturnal ardor."

Chicago Classical Review, Grant Park Orchestra, July 2023

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Intermusica represents Kevin John Edusei worldwide

Leyla Güneş
Deputy Head of Artist Management
+44 20 7608 9927
lgunes@intermusica.com

David O'Leary
Assistant Artist Manager
+44 (0) 7752 396 842
doleary@intermusica.com

All artists

Chansonnier

HK Gruber

Counter-tenor

Tim Mead

Harpsichord

Richard Egarr

Piano accompanist

Roger Vignoles

Saxophone

Jess Gillam

Contralto

Avery Amereau