About
Karen Gorden

           "A conductor,
           like a fish in water."            -Diane Chiddister

KAREN GORDEN first came to international attention in 1994 at the 50th Geneva International Conducting Competition - the same competition won fifty years previously by Sir Georg Solti - where she was awarded the jury's special prize.

Following her success in Geneva Ms. Gorden was offered a conducting contract at the Orchester der Staatskapelle und Staatsoper Unter den Linden, the Berlin State Orchestra and Opera. In Berlin her initial contract was extended for an additional season. In addition Ms. Gorden received invitations to work at the renowned Salzburg and Bayreuth summer festivals with conductors Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez.

Ms. Gorden returned to the United States when Leonard Slatkin and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts invited her to Washington as part of the first National Conducting Institute: Kennedy Center's initiative to identify and present the most promising young music directors for American orchestras and arts organizations. In the summer of 2000 Ms. Gorden spent three week-long residencies at the Kennedy Center, where she conducted the National Symphony Orchestra.

A regular guest-conductor in both the United States and Europe, in recent American seasons Ms. Gorden has conducted, among others, the Dallas, Knoxville, Minnesota and Jacksonville Symphony Orchestras. Her affinity for 20th-century music has led her to work with some of today's best-known composers such as Elliott Carter, Jacob Druckman and John Harbison. Dedicated to expanding the range of today's symphony repertoire, Ms. Gorden's creative work in conducting was recognized with a 2004 Ohio Arts Council Artist's Project Grant.

Ms. Gorden has received many prestigious international awards. Like her distinguished countryman Aaron Copland she is a recipient of the Prix Nadia Boulanger. She was also presented with the Opera Award by the State Theater Opava in the Czech Republic. A graduate of the Yale School of Music with a Master of Musical Arts degree in performance, Ms. Gorden also holds the Diplôme with premier prix in model composition from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Lyon, France.

"It should be underlined
that Ms. Gorden
is one of the few
young conductors
equally adept in
and dedicated to
symphonic, operatic and
comtemporary repetoire.
This, combined with her
international experience,
makes her worthy
of special attention
on the American
conducting scene."
-Francis Thorne
President, American Composers Orchestra

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©2004 Karen Gorden
Official Website

Karen Gorden is represented by Gilson Concert Direction: gdc@yellowsprings.com

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