Jahja Ling
In September 2004, Jahja Ling began his tenure as Music Director of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. Due to a private donation unprecedented in the history of American orchestras (US$ 120 million), he is in a unique position to rebuild and renew the Orchestra. This fascinating and highly prestigious task is the current highlight of a career, which has been as unusual as consistent.
Born in Jakarta and of Chinese descent, Jahja Ling began to play the piano at the age of 4. Aged 17, he won the Jakarta Piano Competition and, one year later, was awarded a Rockefeller grant to attend The Juilliard School New York, where he studied piano with Mieczyslaw Munz and Beveridge Webster, and conducting with John Nelson. As a pianist, Jahja Ling won a bronze medal at the 1977 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Israel and as a result, played as soloist with many international orchestras. After having completed his master's degree at Juilliard, he studied orchestral conducting at the Yale School of Music under Otto-Werner Mueller and received a doctor of musical arts degree in 1985. In the summer of 1980 Mr. Ling was granted the Leonard Bernstein Conducting Fellowship at Tanglewood and, two years later, was selected by Mr. Bernstein, who became one of his most influential mentors, to be a Conducting Fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute.
Jahja Ling subsequently held positions as Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and as Resident Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1984 to 2002. In both cities, he founded Youth Orchestras, which he built up with great commitment. From 1988 to 2002, he was Music Director of the Florida Orchestra, and now holds the position of Conductor Laureate. From 1998 to 2001, he was Artistic Director of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra.
From 2000 to 2005, he was Director of the Blossom Festival, the Cleveland Orchestra's annual summer festival. He is enjoying a close relationship with the Cleveland Orchestra, which he has conducted more often than any other conductor. Furthermore, Jahja Ling has conducted the most important North American orchestras, amongst others the symphony orchestras of New York, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Saint Louis, San Francisco, Seattle (Silk Road Project with Yo-Yo Ma) and Washington.
In addition to his regular commitments in the United States and Taiwan, Jahja Ling has been to Europe and Japan for selected engagements. In 1988, he was invited by Kurt Masur to conduct the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and subsequently worked with the radio orchestras in Berlin, Leipzig, Hanover and Hamburg, the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra Hilversum, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Scottish Chamber Orchestra as well as the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. In September 2000, Jahja Ling led performances in Osaka and Tokyo with the Superworld Orchestra, an ensemble comprised of members of the Berlin, Vienna, Munich and New York Philharmonics, the Cleveland, Philadelphia and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras, the Boston and Chicago symphonies, the Orchestre de Paris and Dresden Staatskapelle.
Born in Jakarta and of Chinese descent, Jahja Ling began to play the piano at the age of 4. Aged 17, he won the Jakarta Piano Competition and, one year later, was awarded a Rockefeller grant to attend The Juilliard School New York, where he studied piano with Mieczyslaw Munz and Beveridge Webster, and conducting with John Nelson. As a pianist, Jahja Ling won a bronze medal at the 1977 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Israel and as a result, played as soloist with many international orchestras. After having completed his master's degree at Juilliard, he studied orchestral conducting at the Yale School of Music under Otto-Werner Mueller and received a doctor of musical arts degree in 1985. In the summer of 1980 Mr. Ling was granted the Leonard Bernstein Conducting Fellowship at Tanglewood and, two years later, was selected by Mr. Bernstein, who became one of his most influential mentors, to be a Conducting Fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute.
Jahja Ling subsequently held positions as Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and as Resident Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1984 to 2002. In both cities, he founded Youth Orchestras, which he built up with great commitment. From 1988 to 2002, he was Music Director of the Florida Orchestra, and now holds the position of Conductor Laureate. From 1998 to 2001, he was Artistic Director of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra.
From 2000 to 2005, he was Director of the Blossom Festival, the Cleveland Orchestra's annual summer festival. He is enjoying a close relationship with the Cleveland Orchestra, which he has conducted more often than any other conductor. Furthermore, Jahja Ling has conducted the most important North American orchestras, amongst others the symphony orchestras of New York, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Saint Louis, San Francisco, Seattle (Silk Road Project with Yo-Yo Ma) and Washington.
In addition to his regular commitments in the United States and Taiwan, Jahja Ling has been to Europe and Japan for selected engagements. In 1988, he was invited by Kurt Masur to conduct the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and subsequently worked with the radio orchestras in Berlin, Leipzig, Hanover and Hamburg, the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra Hilversum, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Scottish Chamber Orchestra as well as the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. In September 2000, Jahja Ling led performances in Osaka and Tokyo with the Superworld Orchestra, an ensemble comprised of members of the Berlin, Vienna, Munich and New York Philharmonics, the Cleveland, Philadelphia and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras, the Boston and Chicago symphonies, the Orchestre de Paris and Dresden Staatskapelle.
Management for Europe
