Female conductor joins ranks of top U.S. orchestras
The 25 largest orchestras in the United States have something in common: Not one is led by a woman.
But that is about to change. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra announced Wednesday it had chosen Nathalie Stutzmann, a conductor and singer from France, as its next music director.
Stutzmann, 56, will be only the second woman in history to lead a top-tier U.S. orchestra when she takes the podium in Atlanta next year. She follows Marin Alsop, whose tenure as music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra ended in August after 14 years.
Stutzmann said she hoped her selection would inspire other orchestras to appoint women.
“I’m not looking for a world dominated by women,” she said in a video call. “I’m just looking for equality — that we will one day not be considered as a minority, but as musicians, conductors and maestros.”
A renowned contralto known for performances of works by Mahler, Handel and Bach, Stutzmann began her conducting career only about a decade ago. She has rapidly risen in the field and last year was appointed principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She also serves as chief conductor of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra in Norway.
Conducting, a field long dominated by men, did not always seem like a viable career path for Stutzmann, the daughter of opera singers who grew up near Paris. As a 15-year-old studying at a French conservatory, she said her music teachers discouraged her from pursuing conducting because of her gender.
“It was very clear to me early on that there was no chance for me to achieve my dream as a conductor,” she said. “I knew it was a disaster. I couldn’t even learn, so it was so hard and so frustrating.”
Stutzmann instead focused on singing, winning major competitions and engagements. Her career took off in 1984, when, at 19, she substituted for the American soprano Jessye Norman in Paris. She became one of the industry’s best-known contraltos — the female singers with the lowest vocal range — touring widely and making more than 80 recordings.
Stutzmann, the fifth music director in the Atlanta Symphony’s 76-year history, will work to build on the legacy of Robert Spano, who took over as music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.