STEVEN JARVI
Orchestra Conductor

Assistant Conductor, Kansas City Symphony Orchestra; Peabody Conservatory; University of Michigan

Described as an “eloquent and decisive” conductor by the Wall Street Journal and praised for his “uncommonly expressive and detailed” performances by the Miami Herald, Steven Jarvi is recognized as a dynamic talent with an equal passion for the concert hall and the opera house.

Mr. Jarvi is the newly appointed Assistant Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony after having completed his duties as the Conducting Fellow with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach and as an Associate Conductor for the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center.

In January of 2009, Mr. Jarvi made his unscheduled Kansas City Symphony Classical Series debut conducting Sibelius 5th Symphony and Brahms’ Violin Concerto with Midori, filling in on short notice for Music Director, Michael Stern who was awaiting the birth of his second child. Steven returns twice this season to Miami Beach appearing on the New World Symphony’s Charles Ives In-Context Festival and leading one of their popular Concerts for Kids.

He has previously shared subscription concerts in Miami with Michael Tilson Thomas, Roberto Abbado, Marin Alsop, Mark Wigglesworth and Alasdair Neale, has served as a cover conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and conducted the Helsinki Philharmonic as a competitor in the 3rd Sibelius International Conducting Competition in Helsinki, Finland.

At the age of 21, Steven traveled to Austria at the invitation of Claudio Abbado for observation and study with the maestro and the Berlin Philharmonic at the Salzburg Easter Festival. He was later selected by former New York Philharmonic Music Director, Kurt Masur, to appear on a concert with Masur at Manhattan School of Music as part of a week long master class.

In 2005, as the Seiji Ozawa Conducting Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Steven was one of two conductors selected to study under the, then newly appointed, Music Director of the Boston Symphony, James Levine, and conducted critically praised performances with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, and the Mark Morris Dance Group.

A frequent performer of new music, he has collaborated with many of the world’s most celebrated composers including Henri Dutilleux, John Adams, John Zorn, Augusta Read Thomas, Steven Mackey, Jennifer Higdon and Leon Kirchner, has conducted at Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music, and regularly leads performances at New York City Opera’s annual VOX Festival Showcasing American Composers. Mr. Jarvi was the first conductor ever invited to be a member of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at the Kennedy Center’s Washington National Opera, a position he was personally selected for by Plácido Domingo.

He has held conducting positions for over 30 opera productions with companies including the Washington National Opera, New York City Opera, Baltimore Lyric Opera, Opera Company of Brooklyn and Peabody Opera. Steven is also the Principal Guest Conductor of Dell’Arte Opera Ensemble in New York City.

Raised in Grand Haven, Michigan, Steven Jarvi holds a Bachelor’s of Music Theory from the University of Michigan where he studied with Kenneth Kiesler, Martin Katz and Jerry Blackstone, along with a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with Gustav Meier.