Classical champion of Latin America.

AuthorCrane, Janet
PositionMUSIC

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Peruvian Miguel Harth-Bedoya is an ascendant star in the competitive world of classical music conducting. He is also a man with a mission. Currently in his ninth season as the Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) in Texas, he has transformed that orchestra into a vital community asset and a first-rate ensemble. Like many contemporary conductors he lives an itinerant existence. His elegant, well-phrased interpretations and innovative programs have made him one of the most sought after young guest conductors in North America and Europe, a favorite with musicians and audiences both in Fort Worth and in cities he visits. It is as a champion of Latin American composers and symphonic works that he is establishing a unique and important place in the music world.

Miguel grew up in Lima, Peru, where as a boy he studied piano and participated in folkloric productions directed by his mother for the national airline. It was as a teenager working behind the scenes at Lima's Municipal Theater during opera productions that he felt the pull of conducting. Today, he acknowledges "I really knew nothing when I got to Curtis" [Institute in Philadelphia to begin formal studies]. He credits master teacher Otto Werner-Mueller, with whom he studied for three years at Curtis for a bachelor's degree and for two more years at The Julliard School in New York for a master's, as the most important single influence on his career. He explained. "From him I learned two things: first, respect for other people's work; and, second, how to learn music. It's like reading a book; you don't really know it until you've read it yourself."

Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov met Miguel at Curtis in the late 1980s, soon after each had come to the United States to study. Golijov says that even then Miguel was a star--admired and looked at with respect by the other students. Golijov adds, "I realized then I wanted to work with this guy. He understood my music and I didn't have explain everything."

After graduating Julliard, Harth-Bedoya spent four years as music director of the New York Youth Symphony, then gained experience and recognition with several regional symphonies, including almost six years as Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, before settling in Fort Worth in 2000. He and his wife, Maritza, were thinking about school systems for their soon-to-expand family and Fort Worth seemed the right place. The couple now has...

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