Around the Music Festival

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has extended the contract of its music director, Italian conductor Jader Bignamini. He succeeds Leonard Slatkin beginning with the 2020/2021 season, and the contract renewal extends his tenure through the end of the 2030/2031 season.

Bignamini, 46, was born in Crema, Northern Italy. He studied clarinet at the Nicolini Conservatory in Piacenza and was invited by Riccardo Chailly to join the Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi di Milano in 1998. While with the orchestra, he began his conducting career.

He made his first guest appearance with the Detroit Symphony in June 2018, filling in for Slatkin.

Photo：Detroit Symphony Orchestra