JOANA CARNEIRO has attracted considerable attention as one of the most outstanding young conductors working today. She currently serves as Assistant Conductor with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, working closely with Esa-Pekka Salonen. In 2005/06, she took up a position as Principal Guest Conductor of the Metropolitan Orchestra of Lisbon, and in 2006/07 she was named official guest conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra, working with the orchestra at least four weeks every year.
As a finalist of the prestigious 2002 Maazel-Vilar Conductor’s Competition at Carnegie Hall, Carneiro was recognized by the jury for demonstrating a level of potential that holds great promise for her future career. Since then, her profile has grown quickly both in the U.S. and Europe, and recent engagements include performances with the Gulbenkian Orchestra and her debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the New World Symphony, the Algarve Symphony, the Mancini Institute Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. She also served as assistant conductor to Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Paris Opera’s premiere of Adriana Mater by Kaija Saariaho. She has conducted the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (Ohio), the Macau Chamber Orchestra and the Beijing Orchestra at the International Music Festival of Macau (China), the Portuguese National Symphony Orchestra, and the Beiras Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2006/07, Carneiro made her debut with the Phoenix Symphony, her French debut with the Orchestre de Bretagne, and her subscription debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and she returned to the Santa Rosa Symphony and the Porto Orchestra. In November 2006, she served in Vienna as the Assistant Conductor for the new John Adams opera A Flowering Tree.
In the 2007/08 season, Carneiro continues her work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and will make her debut with the Chicago Opera Theater as Assistant Conductor for their production of A Flowering Tree (May 2008).
In the past three seasons, Carneiro was a Conducting Fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a program developed and managed by the American Symphony Orchestra League with the aim of supporting the musical and leadership development of exceptionally talented conductors in the early stages of their professional careers. She was also one of three conductors chosen to participate in the newly founded Allianz Cultural Foundation International Conductors Academy in London during 2003/04. As part of this program, Carneiro has benefited from guidance from Maestros Kurt Masur and Christoph von Dohnányi as well as the opportunity to conduct both the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra. She completed her tenure as Music Director of the Los Angeles Debut Orchestra in June 2005, having won the Young Musicians Foundation’s 2002 National Conductor Search, whose past winners include – among others – André Previn, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Lucas Richman. In past seasons, Carneiro served as Music Director of the Campus Philharmonia Orchestra (Michigan), and as Assistant Conductor of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Carneiro frequently participates in workshops and conferences. She attended the International Conducting Workshop in Prague with Maestro Gustav Meier and she was one of 20 active participants in the First International Round Table of Women Conductors in Brussels, in March of 2000. Carneiro has been an active participant in master classes hosted by Michael Tilson Thomas, Larry Rachleff, Jean-Sebastien Bereau, Roberto Benzi, and Pascal Rophé.
A native of Lisbon, Joana Carneiro began her musical studies as a violist before receiving her conducting degree from the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra in Lisbon, where she studied with Jean-Marc Burfin. She received her master’s degree in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University as a student of Victor Yampolsky and Mallory Thompson and pursued doctoral studies at the University of Michigan, where she studied with Kenneth Kiesler.
In March 2004, Carneiro was decorated by the President of the Portuguese Republic, Jorge Sampaio, with the Commendation of the Order of the Infante Dom Henrique.
2/08
