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Photo Courtesy of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
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Photo Courtesy of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

“Conductor Jader Bignamini drew energetic and virtuosic playing from the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra while being attentive to the needs of the singers. With brisk tempi in the lighthearted scenes and slower but idiomatic music making in the tragic last act, he presented a glorious rendition of Puccini’s immortal score.”

Broadway World

“Conductor Jader Bignamini was the evening’s real discovery. A former assistant to Riccardo Chailly at La Scala, Bignamini brought intensity and noble phrasing to the operatic excerpts while anticipating and dovetailing the singers’ every breath and turn of phrase. Under his baton, Orchestra Miami sounded twice its size with dynamic playing from all sections. The program’s orchestral interludes were not mere fillers, as they often emerge in these type of concerts, but idiomatic vignettes played at white heat. … Bignamini is a major talent with a promising future.”

South Florida Classical Review

“Bignamini and the orchestra gave a deftly crafted, beautifully executed performance of Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio italien before closing the program by enveloping the audience in the enormous, thrilling, visceral sounds of Respighi’s vivid tone poem The Pines of Rome. Conductor and players moved from a sensitive, supportive performance of the Dvorak to compelling, poignant music-making and deft ensemble work in the Tchaikovsky, and a wonderfully evocative performance of Respighi. Bignamini led the players through a colorful, artfully shaped performance of Pines of Rome ….”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Conductor Jader Bignamini was a fine technician, keeping rhythms crisp and the ensemble coordinated. He is one of those stiff-backed conductors who let their arms and face do all the work; the sensitivity and excitement with which the orchestra responded illustrated the communication and cooperation he elicited from the musicians. Indeed, there was a fine sense of rubato in many places that added a rhythmic expressivity ….”

San Diego Union Tribune

“Jader Bignamini, making his debut in the Met pit, conducts a sweeping and dramatic reading of the score.”

Huffington Post

Jader Bignamini was introduced as Music Director of the Detroit Symphony in January 2020. His tenure has already included a highly successful tour to Florida, commissions and premieres of new work, audience growth in and around Detroit, and the release of a brand new recording of Wynton Marsalis’ Blues Symphony, Jader’s first commercial release with the DSO.

Outside of Detroit, the 2024-25 season includes Bignamini’s debuts with the Atlanta Symphony, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, plus return engagements with the symphony orchestras of Bergen and Bern, and a production of Otello at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo.

Recent highlights include concerts with The Cleveland Orchestra, Houston, Dallas, Milwaukee, National, and New Jersey Symphonies; and the Minnesota Orchestra. Internationally, he has conducted the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, and Residentie Orkest The Hague. Opera highlights include productions with the Metropolitan Opera, Opera de Paris, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera, Dutch National Opera, Oper Frankfurt, and Canadian Opera Company. Bignamini led an extensive tour across Asia in August 2024 with the Asian Youth Orchestra.

In Summer 2021, Bignamini conducted triumphant performances of Turandot at the Arena di Verona with Anna Netrebko and Yusiv Eyvazov, as well as a staged production of Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. Other highlights include Cavalleria rusticana at Michigan Opera Theatre, La bohème at Santa Fe Opera, La Traviata in Tokyo directed by Sofia Coppola, Manon Lescaut at the Bolshoi, La Traviata at Bayerische Staatsoper, Eugene Onegin at Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Turandot at the Teatro Filarmonica, Il Trovatore at Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera, the opening concert of the Orchestra Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Bologna conducting Carmina Burana; La Bohème at the Municipal de São Paulo and La Fenice; L’Elisir d’Amore in Ancona; Tosca at the Comunale di Bologna; La Forza del Destino at the Verdi Festival in Parma; La Bohème, Cavalleria Rusticana, and L’Amor Brujo at Teatro Filarmonico di Verona; Aida at Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera; Madama Butterfly at La Fenice; engagements with Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca, and the MITO Festival conducting Berlioz’ Messe Solennelle. He made his concert debut at La Scala in 2015.

Bignamini began his conducting career as Assistant and then Resident Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica la Verdi, having been appointed by Riccardo Chailly in 2010. He was born in Crema and studied at the Piacenza Music Conservatory.

2024-2025