Jayce Ogren
With mounting success in both symphonic and operatic repertoire, Jayce Ogren is building a reputation as one of the finest young conductors to emerge from the United States in recent seasons.
He began the 2015-2016 season leading Rossini's La Cenerentola at the Music Academy of the West before heading to Paris to conduct the Ensemble Intercontemporain in a program that includes music of Stockhausen, Jodlowski, Nono and Andrew Norman. He leads subscription weeks with the Colorado, Edmonton and Victoria Symphony orchestras, and Philadelphia's Orchestra 2001; Bernstein's West Side Story with film for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Symphony; and the world premiere of Jack Perla's Shalimar the Clown for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
Highlights of last season included acclaimed performances of the Strauss Burleske with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Emanuel Ax; Basil Twist's Rite of Spring with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Lincoln Center's White Light Festival; the New York Philharmonic in their CONTACT! Series of contemporary music; and the recording Rufus Wainright's opera Prima Donna with the BBC Symphony for release on Deutsche Grammophon.
During recent seasons Ogren has led new productions of Benjamin Britten's Turn of the Screw and Rossini's Mosè in Egitto with the New York City Opera, where he was music director, as well as the American premiere of Rufus Wainwright's opera Prima Donna, Mozart's The Magic Flute and Bernstein's A Quiet Place, for which he won extensive critical acclaim. He also made his Canadian Opera debut in Stravinsky's The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
Notable orchestral highlights include stepping in for James Levine to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a challenging program that included the world premiere of Peter Lieberson's song cycle Songs of Love and Sorrow with Gerald Finley; his debut with the New York Philharmonic on the CONTACT! Series and leading the Philharmonic in two concerts during the inaugural NY PHIL BIENNIAL; staged performances of Turn of the Screw for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the New World Symphony. He has also led all-Stravinsky programs with the New York City Ballet.
Ogren's extensive work in contemporary music has included collaborations with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in programs at Columbia University's Miller Theatre, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival and at the Wien Modern Festival. He also conducted world premieres in Nico Muhly's contemporary festival, "A Scream and an Outrage," with the BBC Symphony at the Barbican.
European guest engagements have included the RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, and Robert Carson's production of My Fair Lady at the Chatelet in Paris. He led the European premiere of Bernstein's West Side Story film with live orchestra with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, which he repeated with the Detroit Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He also traveled to South Africa to lead the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic, appeared with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, the Copenhagen Philharmonic and the Asturias Symphony, and led Le Nozze di Figaro at the Verbier Festival Academy.
A native of Washington State, Ogren received his bachelor's degree in composition from St. Olaf College in 2001 and his master's degree in conducting from the New England Conservatory in 2003. With a Fulbright Grant, he completed a postgraduate diploma in orchestral conducting at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm where he studied with the legendary Jorma Panula and spent two summers at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen. He was appointed by Franz Welser-Möst as assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and music director of the Cleveland Youth Orchestra and has led the Cleveland Orchestra in regular season subscription concerts and at The Blossom Festival.
As a composer, Ogren's works have been performed at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music, the Brevard Music Center, the American Choral Directors Association Conference and the World Saxophone Congress. His Symphonies of Gaia has been performed by ensembles on three continents and is the title track on a DVD featuring the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra.
Ogren is an award-winning triathlete, most recently completing the 2015 Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge —running the Boston Marathon and the Big Sur Marathon back to back. He also completed the 2014 Ironman Lake Placid Triathlon and one week later finished fourth in his age group in the 2014 New York City Triathlon.
He makes his home in Brooklyn, New York.
He began the 2015-2016 season leading Rossini's La Cenerentola at the Music Academy of the West before heading to Paris to conduct the Ensemble Intercontemporain in a program that includes music of Stockhausen, Jodlowski, Nono and Andrew Norman. He leads subscription weeks with the Colorado, Edmonton and Victoria Symphony orchestras, and Philadelphia's Orchestra 2001; Bernstein's West Side Story with film for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Symphony; and the world premiere of Jack Perla's Shalimar the Clown for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
Highlights of last season included acclaimed performances of the Strauss Burleske with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Emanuel Ax; Basil Twist's Rite of Spring with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Lincoln Center's White Light Festival; the New York Philharmonic in their CONTACT! Series of contemporary music; and the recording Rufus Wainright's opera Prima Donna with the BBC Symphony for release on Deutsche Grammophon.
During recent seasons Ogren has led new productions of Benjamin Britten's Turn of the Screw and Rossini's Mosè in Egitto with the New York City Opera, where he was music director, as well as the American premiere of Rufus Wainwright's opera Prima Donna, Mozart's The Magic Flute and Bernstein's A Quiet Place, for which he won extensive critical acclaim. He also made his Canadian Opera debut in Stravinsky's The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
Notable orchestral highlights include stepping in for James Levine to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a challenging program that included the world premiere of Peter Lieberson's song cycle Songs of Love and Sorrow with Gerald Finley; his debut with the New York Philharmonic on the CONTACT! Series and leading the Philharmonic in two concerts during the inaugural NY PHIL BIENNIAL; staged performances of Turn of the Screw for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the New World Symphony. He has also led all-Stravinsky programs with the New York City Ballet.
Ogren's extensive work in contemporary music has included collaborations with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in programs at Columbia University's Miller Theatre, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival and at the Wien Modern Festival. He also conducted world premieres in Nico Muhly's contemporary festival, "A Scream and an Outrage," with the BBC Symphony at the Barbican.
European guest engagements have included the RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, and Robert Carson's production of My Fair Lady at the Chatelet in Paris. He led the European premiere of Bernstein's West Side Story film with live orchestra with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, which he repeated with the Detroit Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He also traveled to South Africa to lead the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic, appeared with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, the Copenhagen Philharmonic and the Asturias Symphony, and led Le Nozze di Figaro at the Verbier Festival Academy.
A native of Washington State, Ogren received his bachelor's degree in composition from St. Olaf College in 2001 and his master's degree in conducting from the New England Conservatory in 2003. With a Fulbright Grant, he completed a postgraduate diploma in orchestral conducting at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm where he studied with the legendary Jorma Panula and spent two summers at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen. He was appointed by Franz Welser-Möst as assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and music director of the Cleveland Youth Orchestra and has led the Cleveland Orchestra in regular season subscription concerts and at The Blossom Festival.
As a composer, Ogren's works have been performed at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music, the Brevard Music Center, the American Choral Directors Association Conference and the World Saxophone Congress. His Symphonies of Gaia has been performed by ensembles on three continents and is the title track on a DVD featuring the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra.
Ogren is an award-winning triathlete, most recently completing the 2015 Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge —running the Boston Marathon and the Big Sur Marathon back to back. He also completed the 2014 Ironman Lake Placid Triathlon and one week later finished fourth in his age group in the 2014 New York City Triathlon.
He makes his home in Brooklyn, New York.