Conductor Marc Taddei is Music Director of two orchestras, Orchestra Wellington in New Zealand’s capital city, and the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra, near San Francisco in the United States. In Wellington, he continues to innovate and infuse his audiences with creative energy. Orchestra Wellington has just released the first orchestral LP in New Zealand in a generation. This live album, (and CD) is entitled “LIVE”, and contains performances of Beethoven’s 1st and 3rd Symphonies in the wonderful acoustic of Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre. The album went straight to No. 1 on the Classical Charts, but also entered the general Top 40. Meanwhile, the Vallejo Symphony’s
subscriber base has just hit an all-time high. Both are testament to Marc’s commitment to his orchestras and the power of audience connection.
Astonishingly, Marc’s orchestra in Wellington has surpassed every other orchestra in New Zealand with the highest average paid attendance level for subscription concerts, now averaging over 1850 people per concert. And the final concert of his first season in Vallejo broke all box office records for the 85-year old orchestra; there was standing room only, with dozens turned away at the door. In his second season, the VSO achieved subscription and ticket results not seen in a generation. These achievements follow his introduction of a subscription season and the orchestra’s highest ever audience numbers with his first orchestra in Christchurch, and solidify Marc’s reputation as one of the most compelling – and stunningly successful – music directors working today. His zest for creating engaging, erudite and innovative programmes, combined with his close audience connection, has won for him an unsurpassed public following and continuing critical acclaim.
Continually noted for his interpretations, Middle C said of a recent performance, “…here was a performance that recalled for me the astonishment and excitement I felt when I first heard the work in my teens.” Similarly, City Voice (Wellington) wrote, “Here in our midst we have a conductor who is young, charismatic, and is able to communicate his emotions and visions of these great works to an orchestra, so that they can reach out and touch an audience like very few can actually do.” In Christchurch, Marc was celebrated for his “magnificent contribution as Music Director” by The Press. In Wellington, he has been lauded as “a real interpreter of boldly romantic inclinations” by the Dominion Post and was singled out for his “intensity, commitment and attention to detail” by the Capital Times. Classical Sonoma commented on Marc’s “commanding conducting” during his first performance with the Vallejo Symphony.
Marc Taddei has conducted all six major Australian orchestra as well as Orchestra Victoria, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia and Hong Kong Philharmonic. In the US, he conducted the Richmond Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Oregon, Fort Worth and New Haven Symphony Orchestras, the Eugene Symphony, and the Southwest Florida Symphony. He has also conducted for the New York City Ballet, Opera New Zealand, the Hong Kong Ballet, and the Royal New Zealand Ballet as well as the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, the Auckland Festival and the New Zealand International Film Festival. His performance with the Louisiana Philharmonic was nominated for best Contemporary Classical Performance of the year at the 12th annual Tribute to the Classical Arts in New Orleans.
Marc has worked with such diverse artists as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Anne Sofie von Otter, Cecile Licad, Angela Brown, Julian Lloyd Webber, Horacio Gutiérrez, Simon O’Neill, Ilya Gringolts, Jennifer Koh, Joanna MacGregor, Jonathan Lemalu, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Sir Howard Morrison, Michael Houstoun, Gregg Baker, Dame Malvina Major, Helen Callus, Csaba Erdélyi, Joshua Redman, Pedro Carneiro, Kevin Cole, James Morrison, Diana Krall, Bobby Shew, Art Garfunkel, Dave Dobbyn, Kenny Rogers and the contemporary music ensemble, Eighth Blackbird among many others.
He has conducted for Hollywood and international movie productions including Krampus, King Kong, Under the Mountain, No.2, and Dean Spanley. He also conducted the soundtrack to Britain’s Channel 4 film, “Wagner’s Ring”, which won the prestigious Prix de Basle Special Jury Award for the “most outstanding contribution to European culture in television”. Marc has appeared every year for more than a dozen years with the New Zealand International Film Festivals and conducted the major Australian orchestras for film-centric concerts. He also programmes film concerts from time to time with his own orchestras in New Zealand.
Marc’s impressive discography includes nearly 30 recordings of eclectic and significant repertoire on the Sony, BMG, Koch, Columbia, Trust, ASV, Universal, Rattle, Concordance and Kiwi Pacific labels, and many of his discs are featured in streaming audio on the Naxos music library website.
Marc’s successes as a recording artist are informed by his work in the industry as a conductor, soloist, orchestral musician, and as a producer. His release of British viola concertos with Helen Callus and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra received rave reviews in Gramophone, Classic FM, and Strad magazines and the CD was listed as recording of the month by Music Web International and Classic FM. The American Record guide said of his Berlioz Harold in Italy/Bartok Viola Concerto CD that “this is one of the best Harolds you’ll find anywhere, and the Bartok will appeal to anyone dissatisfied by previous editions of the score.” His Rattle CD, “View From Olympus” was awarded Classical Album of the Year at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards and spent an unprecedented nine months at #1 in the classical music charts. It was specially featured by Jim Svejda on KUSC-FM in the United States, and on his internationally syndicated programme, The Record Shelf. Marc’s SONY recording with the Christchurch Symphony went double platinum in 2004. More recently his Atoll CD, “Holocaust Requiem” won the 2012 Pizzicato Magazine (Luxembourg) Supersonic Award. Other special recognition for his recordings includes publications as diverse as Sequenza 21, American Record Guide, Strad Magazine and Music.Dish.com (Editor’s Pick).
He has conducted for television producers such as C4 productions in the UK and New Zealand, Fox Television, TVNZ and TV3 in New Zealand. Marc’s appearances on television have included live performances with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Young Musician of the Year, Last Night of the Proms, and a children’s television special entitled “Baby Proms” which introduces preschool children and their caregivers to the joys of the orchestra. A special televised performance of Vaughn Williams Symphony Antartica featuring Sir Edmund Hillary as narrator was broadcast live via satellite to Scott Base in the Antarctic in a world first in 2005. Ever the pioneer, in 2011 Marc conducted the NZSO in music for the innovative software package “Booktracks”, which featured music of John Psathas accompanying Salman Rushdie’s short story “In the South”.
An advocate of new media in performance, and extra-musical collaboration as a means of enriching the artistic experience, Marc has worked with many of New Zealand’s finest composers and visual artists in ground-breaking orchestral and visual collaborations that have energized audiences. One such collaboration, entitled Southern Journeys, was released by Natural History New Zealand as a DVD in 2002.
Marc is a graduate of the Julliard School in Manhattan, where he received both bachelors and masters degrees before moving to New Zealand. He divides his time between Wanaka in New Zealand’s stunningly beautiful South Island, Wellington and San Francisco.