French conductor Louis Langrée is Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO), which celebrates its 125th anniversary in the 2019–20 season. He has recently toured with that orchestra to Asia and Europe, with appearances at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, BBC Proms, and La Seine Musicale. Mr. Langrée is also Music Director of the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center in New York, a position he has held since 2002. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut at these performances.

Mr. Langrée recently made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic at the Prague Spring Festival, Orchestre National de France, and the Konzerthaus Berlin Orchestra, and returned to the Wiener Symphoniker, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and Philadelphia Orchestras. This season he also makes his conducting debuts with the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, and Montreal Symphony Orchestra. In Europe, he conducts the Dresdner Philharmonie and Orchestre des Champs-Elysées.

Mr. Langrée has worked with many orchestras around the world, including the Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestras, Die Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen, Freiburger Barockorchester, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has performed at the Wiener Festwochen, Salzburg Mozartwoche, and Glyndebourne festivals. He has also conducted at La Scala, Bayerische Staatsoper, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra-Bastille, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dresden Staatsoper, and the Netherlands Opera.  Mr. Langrée has held positions as music director of the Orchestre de Picardie (1993–98), Opéra National de Lyon (1998–2000), Glyndebourne Touring Opera (1998–2003), Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (2001–06), and chief conductor of the Camerata Salzburg (2011–16). He has conducted several world premieres, including works by Daníel Bjarnason, Magnus Lindberg, and Caroline Shaw.
   
Mr. Langrée’s recordings with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra feature Copland’s A Lincoln Portrait (narrated by Maya Angelou,) and world premieres of works by Sebastian Currier, Thierry Escaich, David Lang, Nico Muhly, and Zhou Tian. His latest recording with the CSO was released in August 2019 and features works by Gershwin, Varèse, and Stravinsky. His recordings have received several awards from Gramophone and Midem Classical. He is a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.

Gifted with stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism, and an unfaltering musicality, James Ehnes is a favorite guest at the world’s most celebrated concert halls. Recent orchestral highlights include the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony (with whom he made his debut in 2003), London Symphony, NHK Symphony, and Munich Philharmonic. Mr. Ehnes continues as artist in residence with the National Arts Centre of Canada in the 2022–23 season.

Alongside his concerto work, Mr. Ehnes maintains a busy recital schedule, performing regularly at the Wigmore Hall; Carnegie Hall; Symphony Center Chicago; Amsterdam Concertgebouw; and the Ravinia, Montreux, Verbier, and Dresden festivals. He leads the Ehnes Quartet and serves as the artistic director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society.

Mr. Ehnes has won many awards for his extensive discography, including two Grammy awards, three Gramophone awards, and 11 Juno awards. His state-of-the-art home recordings of works by Bach and Ysaÿe, released as six episodes over two months, were acclaimed worldwide, and Mr. Ehnes was described by Le Devoir as being “at the absolute forefront of the streaming evolution.”

Mr. Ehnes began violin studies at age five and made his orchestral debut at 13. He continued his training at the Meadowmount School of Music and the Juilliard School, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding achievement and lead- ership in music. He is a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba; a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada; and an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, where he is a visiting professor. He plays the 1715 “Marsick” Stradivarius violin.