Biography
Jean-Marie Zeitouni is one of the brightest conductors of his generation, renowned for his expressive and eloquent style, in a repertoire that ranges from baroque to contemporary music. He studied at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, most notably under Maestro Raffi Armenian, and graduated in conducting, percussion, and music theory.
Over the years, Jean-Marie Zeitouni has been Artistic Director of the I Musici de Montréal Chamber Orchestra (2011-2021), Musical Director of the Colorado Music Festival (2014-2019), the Columbus Symphony (2010-2015) and the opera program at the Banff Center (2005-2007), Artistic Partner of the Edmonton Symphony, Assistant Conductor and Chorus Director at the Opéra de Montréal as well as Musical Director of their Atelier lyrique, Chorus Director at the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and at the Opéra de Québec and Musical Director of the orchestra and of the opera workshop at Laval University. In his 12 years of a fruitful collaboration with Les Violons du Roy, he alternately held the positions of conductor in residence, assistant conductor and principal guest conductor. Since 2022, he has been conducting the Orchestre symphonique du Conservatoire de musique de Montréal as well as the orchestra conducting class.
Highly sought after as a conductor of both symphonic and operatic repertoire, Zeitouni regularly conducts in Europe and across America.
Among the many Canadian symphony orchestra Zeitouni has conducted are those of Montreal, Toronto, Quebec City, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Halifax, Victoria, Kitchener-Waterloo and London, not to mention the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Arion Baroque Orchestra and Club musical de QuĂ©bec. No stranger to the international stage, Mr. Zeitouni has conducted the symphony orchestras of Tucson, Houston, Oregon, Monterey, San Antonio, Omaha, Honolulu, Huntsville and Cincinnati, in addition to the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, Pacific Symphony, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonique de Marseille, Xalapa Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony of Mexico, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Arco Ensemble and Detroit Symphony. He is also a regular at the Festival international de LanaudiĂšre, Festival international du Domaine Forget, Elora Festival, Parry Sound Festival and New Yorkâs Mostly Mozart Festival. You may also have seen him at festivals in Round Top, Texas, and Grant Park, Illinois. Most recently, he made his debut in Moscow with the Russian National Orchestra and at the ThĂ©Ăątre des Champs-ĂlysĂ©es of Paris.
As a lyrical director, Zeitouni conducted numerous productions at the OpĂ©ra de MontrĂ©al, OpĂ©ra de QuĂ©bec, Glimmerglass Opera, ThĂ©Ăątre du Capitole de Toulouse and OpĂ©ra national de Lorraine, as well as productions in Banff, Calgary, Edmonton, Cincinnati and St. Louis. Recently, he led several opera productions including Don Giovanni at the OpĂ©ra de QuĂ©bec, the world premiere of La beautĂ© du monde at the OpĂ©ra de MontrĂ©al, Ariane et Barbe-Bleue at the Orchestre de lâOpĂ©ra national de Lorraine and La BohĂšme with the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-RiviĂšres.
In 2023-2024, he will conduct the Orchestre National de Montpellier, in a project by the Palazetto Bru Zane at the ThĂ©Ăątre des Champs-ĂlysĂ©es, the Orchestre Symphonique de MontrĂ©al, Les Violons du Roy at the Festival international du Domaine Forget, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the San Antonio Philharmonic, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. He will also assume the musical direction during the creation of the new opera by Julien Bilodeau and Michel-Marc Bouchard, La Reine-garçon at the OpĂ©ra de MontrĂ©al and will take the helm for the production of Lucie de Lammermoor at the OpĂ©ra of Quebec.