MAESTRO ARPAD JOO
(A short biography)

Maestro Joo (pronounced:Yeo) was born in Hungary,Europe. Coming from a musical family (his grandmother was an eminent pupil I.Thoman, at the Franz Liszt Accademy- a direct disciple of Franz Liszt.)At a very early age, his mother, herself an accomplished pianist and teacher has discovered his musical talent. At the age of five he began his musical studies with his mother and a year later he entered the then newly established Kodaly school of music, under the personal supervision of the great Hungarian composer-educator Zoltan Kodaly.
Very shortly he has attracted the attention of Kodaly himself who has developed a lifelong teacher-student relationship with Mr. Joo, which has lasted until the death of the great Composer. During his studies in the Kodaly school he has been introduced by his teachers to visiting musicians such as Igor Stravinsky, A. Khatchaturjan, Pablo Casals, Karl Orff,Yehudi Menuhin, D. Shostakovich.
Later he has studied at the Bartok Conservatory and at the age of 16 only,he has been admitted to the University level of the prestigious Franz Liszt Academy of Music where he has studied piano with Joseph Gat and P. Kadosa.
By this time he has won his first international Piano competion in Taormina in Italy, playing the Liszt Piano Concerto Nrt. 1.
Still as a child prodigy he periodically visited Salzburg, Austria to study at the Mozarteum.
At the age of 17 he was invited to give a solo recital in the famous Montreux festival (Switzerland) in the same series as Martha Argerich, Geza Anda, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. Maestro Joo’s piano performances took him to Switzerland, Germany,Chechoslovakia and Germany.

At the age of 20 he has emigrated to the United States, to study at Juilliard School of Music in New York City as a Special Student.
In the very first year of studying at Juilliard School of Music, he has won the First Prize of the International Liszt Piano Competition in Boston, USA
He has become a US citizen.
He has started his Conducting carreer in San Diego, California at the age of 21, conducting at the Summer festival a production of the Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. (Le Nozze di Figaro). He has entered at the age of 22 Indiana University, in Bloomington, Indiana USA to study conducting. He has graduated with MM in Conducting (Orchestral and Opera).
During this time he has also studied conducting with Igor Markevitch in Monte Carlo after which he has been named at the age of 24 as the resident Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in Tennessee (USA).(Maestro Joo was the youngest ever Music Director/Conductor of a Metropolitan Orchestra in the history of the United States.)During this time he has guest conducted in many different places including the Netherlands, Mexico, and the US. At the age of 26 The Cultural arm of the United Nations, UNESCO has selected him to conduct a special performance representing the United States in Monte Carlo- which he has done to great critical acclaim.
Thereupon he has become the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.
During this time he has had many guest conducting appearances all over the world, with many leading orchestras of the world, including the London Symphony Orchestra, The Philharmonia Orchestra of London,London Philharmonic,Amsterdam Philharmonic, Budapest Philharmonic, Vienna Tonkunstler Orchestra etc.

In 1980-81 he has recorded the complete orchestral works of Bela Bartok with the Budapest Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras. Virtually all the newspapers and magazines in the United States and Europe such as Newsweek, Time Magazine, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Saturday Review, Chicago Tribune, London Times, (Interestingly enough even Sports Illustrated and National Gegraphic)etc has hailed these recording as a milestone both in Digital (then new) technology and the quality of the performances. Stereo Review (1981) has awarded the Record of the Year to maestro Joo for his new Bartok Release set. (5 LPs now CDs)
In 1982 he has recorded the complete Orchestral works of Kodaly. By this time and for the next 15 years he has conducted many of the leading orchestras of the world, conducting many tours in Germany, England, Italy, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands etc.
In 1987 he has taken up the position of Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Orquesta Sinfonica De Radio Television Espanola in Madrid,Spain (Spanish Radio and Television Orchestra) under Royal Patronage. He has been the only the third foreign born Conductor to hold this prestigious position after Igor Markevitch and Sergiu Celibidache).
In 1987 he has also Recorded the highly acclaimed series of the Complete Orchestral Works of Franz Liszt for which he has received the coveted “Grand Prix du Disque” in Paris, directly from the French Minister of Culture, Mr. Leotard.
He also held the positions of Pricipal Guest Conductor of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Pricipal Guest Conductor of the European Comunity Chamber Orchestra.(Residency: London, England)Later he has become the Music Director and Conductor of Brabant Orchestra In the Netherlands, conducting many performances throughout Europe (Brighton –England- festival,Concertgebouw Amsterdam.)
He has also conducted highly successful concert tours with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra (Germany 10 concerts),Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra (Germany 25-25 concerts),Hungarian State Orchestra (England 8 concerts),Budapest Concert Orchestra (Netherlands,Italy, Spain 22 concerts),The Spanish Radio Orchestra (France, Spain),Philharmonia Hungarica etc.
He has founded in Budapest Hungary the European Symphony Orchestra of which he is the Principal Conductor.(Since 1998)

In addition to his busy conducting schedule he has taught Master classes and has given lectures at various US and Canadian Universities, such as Indiana University (Visiting Professor of Music), Banff Centre of the Arts (Canada),Mount Royal College,University of Alberta, Canada; for two years in succession he has taken over the Master Classes in Conducting for young conductors in Assisi, Italy from the most famous conducting teacher of the 20th Century, Maestro Franco Ferrara, thus inheriting the “mantle” of this most respected and beloved Teacher.
He has recorded for many international Labels, including Hungaroton,Phillips,Sefel, Arts, Erasmus, RCA, Laserlight.
His discography includes more the 50 CDs.

Selected /partial Discography:

Philharmonia Orchestra of London:

R. Strauss: Ein Heldenleben
R. Strauss: Suites from the Rosenkavalier and “Die Frau Ohne Schatten”
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5.
Wagner: Operatic Arias with Eva Marton
 

London Symphony Orchestra:

Janacek: Sinfonietta
Kodaly: Hary Suite
Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Julliett Overture
Suite Nr. 3
Brahms : Sympnhony Nr 4
Ravel: Bolero
Daphnis Suite Nr.2

Amsterdam Philharmonic:

Mahler: Symphony nr. 1 (Record of the Year award)
Brahms: Concerto for Violin and Cello (Double Concerto)

Budapest Symphony Orchestra:

Liszt: Complete Symphonic Poems (5 CDs)- “Grand Prix Du Disque”, Paris, France

Complete Orchestral Works of Kodaly
Complete orchestral Works of Bartok (With Budapest Philharmonic), Stereo Review Record of the Year award

Mahler: Symphony nr. 8 (Symphony of a Thousand)

Spanish Radio Orchestra

Selected Orchestral Showpieces

European Symphony Orchestra

Dvorak: Slavonic Dances
Brahms: Hungarian Dances

Video Productions

Beethoven: 9th Symphony (Hungarian Festival Orchestra)
Liszt: Legend of the St Elisabeth, Oratorio.(Hungarian State Orchestra and Choir with Soloists)
Mahler: Symphony Nr. 8 (Symphony of a thousand), Budapest Symphony Orchestra and 5 participating Choirs with Soloists)
Mahler: Symphony Nr. 2 (Hungarian State Orchestra)

N.B. Biographical Material of Maestro Joo’s Conducting carreer and repertoire in Opera is not included in this short and partial biographical sketch but can be supplied upon request.