Around the Music Festival

Joseph Swensen of the United States, who was conducting the closing concert of La Folle Journée in Nantes, France, on February 4, collapsed during the performance and was rushed to the hospital. According to local reports, Swensen is receiving treatment and recovering well.

Svensen is 63 years old and was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. He grew up in a family where his father was of Norwegian descent and his mother of Japanese descent, and studied under Dorothy Delay and others at the Juilliard School in New York.

After then, He became a conductor. He has served as Chief Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (1996-2005) and Music Director of the Malmö Opera House in Sweden (2006-2011).

He will also be appointed Music Director of the Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine in France beginning in the 2024/2025 season. It was also the Aquitaine Orchestre that he was conducting at the time of his collapse. Svensen collapsed after the first performance of soprano Marie-Laure Garnier and three-quarters of the way through the concert.

PHOTO：Kaupo Kikkas