Biography
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Main Conductor of the Granada Youth Symphony Orchestra, Musical Director of the Ceuta International Symphony Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the Extremadura Youth Orchestra for the 2018/21 seasons and Artistic Conductor of European Medical Students' Orchestra and Choir 2019, EDMON LEVON (Sofia, 1988) is an orchestral conducting postgraduate from the renowned Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester (supported by the Pidem Fund) and former student of the prestigious Dutch National Master’s in Orchestral Conducting (supported by the Kersjes Fonds). He was one of the 20 finalists at the "Antal Doráti" International Conducting Competition 2018 and recently conducted the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in their 10th and last International Conducting Masterclass with David Zinman. He stands out for his sharp hearing and thorough search of orchestral colours, balances and musical phrasings as well as for his efficient rehearsal technique thanks to his extensive orchestral experience as a professional violinist.
In different contexts, he has conducted the Gstaad Menuhin Festival Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, The Hague Resident Orchestra, South Netherlands Philharmonic, National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands, BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, Argovia Philharmonic, Granada City Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic and Ruse Philharmonic. He recently did his successful debut in Germany in a subscription concert with the Jenaer Philharmonie, thanks to which he has been reinvited to Germany to conduct the Göttinger Symphinie Orchester in the 2019/20 season. As an assistant conductor, Edmon has worked at the BBC Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra with conductors Juanjo Mena, Pablo González, Antony Hermus and John Storgårds, among others. Edmon was selected to participate in masterclasses with David Zinman, Daniele Gatti, Juanjo Mena, Manfred Honeck, Vasily Petrenko, Sir Mark Elder and Ivor Bolton. His conducting mentors have been Jac van Steen, Ed Spanjaard and Kenneth Montgomery in the Netherlands, and Clark Rundell and Mark Heron in the United Kingdom. |
As the main conductor of the Northern Lusofonia Orchestra in 2015-2017, Edmon conducted numerous UK premières by Spanish and Portuguese composers such as Òscar Colomina, Luís de Freitas Branco, Federico de Freitas, Victorino D’Almeida, Eurico Carrapatoso and Joly Bragas Santos. Moved by his Bulgarian heritage, he has been involved in a research project aiming to locate and bring to Western audiences masterpieces and seemingly lost works by Bulgarian composers such as Petko Staynov, Pancho Vladigerov, Dimitar Nenov, Veselin Stoyanov and Henri Lazarof.
As a violinist, he graduated at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Granada obtaining the Special Award for Excellence in Academic Performance and later he completed a postgraduate at the Hochschule für Musik “Franz Liszt” in Weimar under Prof. Marius Sima. Co-author of two books of violin scales for students in all levels, in 2009 he became the youngest violinist ever to win the auditions for a permanent position at the Granada City Orchestra, orchestra with which he has performed as a soloist on three occasions. When not on stage, his other passions are the violin teaching, reading, hiking and piloting light aircraft. |
Biography
Trained as a musician in Granada, Weimar, Manchester, Amsterdam and The Hague, Edmon Levon is a Spanish orchestral conductor with an international profile, currently the Main Conductor of the Ceuta International Symphony Orchestra and Granada Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has conducted the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, Netherlands Philharmonic, Resident Orchestra of The Hague, Jena Philharmonic (press review), Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic and Granada City Orchestra (with which he has also performed as violin soloist on three occasions).
His forthcoming engagements include concerts with the Córdoba Orchestra, Spanish Radio Symphony Orchestra RTVE and Göttingen Symphony Orchestra. He recently conducted the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, becoming one of the 5 semi-finalists out of 437 conductors in the 9th Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition. He was also a semi-finalist in the 2nd Antal Doráti Competition with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra.
Edmon has been assistant conductor to Juanjo Mena, Pablo González, Antony Hermus, John Storgårds and Jac van Steen with orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic (for both concerts and CD recordings), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Orchestra, Finnish Radio Orchestra and Prague Symphony Orchestra.
He was selected for masterclasses with Daniele Gatti, Juanjo Mena, Manfred Honeck, Sir Mark Elder, Ivor Bolton and David Zinman, the latter writing about him: "Edmon Levon is a very intelligent and talented musician who shows great promise in his future career as a conductor. He has done outstanding work with the orchestra (Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich) and I can highly recommend him.”
Edmon has a special interest in the Portuguese repertoire, having conducted numerous UK premières and with engagements to conduct in Germany works by composers such as Luís de Freitas Branco, Frederico de Freitas, Joly Braga Santos and Eurico Carrapatoso, as well as traditional fado in orchestral arrangement with the renowned fado singer Maria Ana Bobone.
He combines his work as a conductor with his two other great passions: the violin (he is a violinist at the Granada City Orchestra since 2009) and piloting planes.
His forthcoming engagements include concerts with the Córdoba Orchestra, Spanish Radio Symphony Orchestra RTVE and Göttingen Symphony Orchestra. He recently conducted the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, becoming one of the 5 semi-finalists out of 437 conductors in the 9th Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition. He was also a semi-finalist in the 2nd Antal Doráti Competition with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra.
Edmon has been assistant conductor to Juanjo Mena, Pablo González, Antony Hermus, John Storgårds and Jac van Steen with orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic (for both concerts and CD recordings), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Orchestra, Finnish Radio Orchestra and Prague Symphony Orchestra.
He was selected for masterclasses with Daniele Gatti, Juanjo Mena, Manfred Honeck, Sir Mark Elder, Ivor Bolton and David Zinman, the latter writing about him: "Edmon Levon is a very intelligent and talented musician who shows great promise in his future career as a conductor. He has done outstanding work with the orchestra (Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich) and I can highly recommend him.”
Edmon has a special interest in the Portuguese repertoire, having conducted numerous UK premières and with engagements to conduct in Germany works by composers such as Luís de Freitas Branco, Frederico de Freitas, Joly Braga Santos and Eurico Carrapatoso, as well as traditional fado in orchestral arrangement with the renowned fado singer Maria Ana Bobone.
He combines his work as a conductor with his two other great passions: the violin (he is a violinist at the Granada City Orchestra since 2009) and piloting planes.