Programs and Events

New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic Orchestra Tours Panama

June 24-28

ABOUT BENJAMIN ZANDER AND NEC'S YOUTH PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

For over thirty years Benjamin Zander has been the conductor of the New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, the premier orchestra at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School-New England Conservatory's pre-college division. The YPO is comprised of accomplished young musicians between the ages of 12 and 18 who are selected annually from over 400 applicants. Zander has led the orchestra on twelve international tours, the last five of which have been to South America. Benjamin Zander has led the YPO in concerts at some of the finest concert halls of the world, including sold-out performances at Santiago, Chile's Teatro Municipal, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Teatro Muncipal of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the Teatro Amadeo Roldan in Havana, Cuba.

Zander has also been the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic since its formation in 1979. He has appeared as a guest conductor with orchestras around the world, giving regular performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, with whom he is recording the complete cycles of Beethoven and Mahler symphonies for the Telarc label. He has been on the faculty of the New England Conservatory in Boston since 1966, and is artistic director of the music program at the Walnut Hill School, a boarding school for the training of highly accomplished young performing artists.

Born in England, Mr. Zander began composing at the age nine, studied under Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst, and trained as a cellist in Italy and Germany with cello virtuoso Gaspar Cassadó. He received a degree from University College, London, and pursued postgraduate studies at Harvard and in New York on a Harkness Fellowship.

Over the past ten years, Mr. Zander has become a sought-after speaker to major organizations on leadership and creativity. He was featured on CBS's 60 Minutes, and his philosophies and experiences as a teacher are contained in the best-selling book, The Art of Possibility. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he was a keynote speaker, he received the Crystal Award for his outstanding contribution to cross-cultural understanding. At the United Nations, last year, the International Council for Caring Communities announced Mr. Zander as the 2002 recipient of the "Caring Citizen of the Humanities" award. His website is www.benjaminzander.com.