Kristian Alexander
Kristian Alexander (1969 - ) is a Canadian conductor, music director, and philanthropist. He is currently Music Director and Principal Conductor of Kindred Spirits Orchestra (Toronto, Canada) and Music Director of the International Music Academy (Toronto, Canada).
Early life and education
Kristian Alexander was born in 1969 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He has earned Master's degrees in orchestral conducting, choir conducting, music theory and history, and music pedagogy from the National Academy of Music. He has also studied anthropology, theology, and computer science at the Sofia University and psychology at the New Bulgarian University. He has further earned a master's degree in comparative theology from the University of montreal as well as a joint Post-graduate Diploma in arts management from the University of Montreal Business School and the Rotman School of Management of the University of Toronto. Kristian Alexander has studied conducting with Gustav Meier, Marin Alsop, Helmuth Rilling, John Morris Russell, Nurhan Arman, and David Agler.
Early career
In 1990 Kristian Alexander was the founder, conductor, music director, and managing director of the “Mozarteum” symphony orchestra in Sofia (Bulgaria). With the joint support of the Government of Austria, the Government of Switzerland, the Vatican, and the Open Society Foundation (New York), the orchestra was created to promote early and rarely presented works by W.A. Mozart. In 1992 Kristian Alexander led the “Mozarteum” symphony orchestra, the National Radio Broadcasting Company Choir, the National Philharmonic Choir, and soloists of the National Opera and produced several recordings of live concerts of Mozart’s compositions for the National Radio Broadcasting Company, and the National Television of Bulgaria. In recognition of his achievemnt as a conductor and music director of the “Mozarteum” orchestra (Sofia), he received the Award of the Internationale Stiftung “Mozarteum”(Salzburg).
Canada
In 1997 Kristian Alexander was invited as an assistant orchestra and choir conductor for the production of the opera Jenůfa by Janáček at the Opéra de Montréal. The performances were outstanding and have been praised by the critics as “one of the best productions in the history of the Opera of Montreal". During this time Kristian Alexander was also a voice consultant of the internaitonally acclaimed actress Louise Marleau, as well as of the actors Marc Béland and Pierre Collins. His knowledge of several languages led him to the position of vocal coach in languages and interpretation at the Atelier lyrique de l' Opéra de Montréal.
In 2000 Kristian Alexander was voted by over 2,000 conductors and music directors worldwide to represent Canada on the Board of the Directors of the Conductors Guild, a professional organization devoted to the advancement of the art of conducting internationally. In 2007 he was appointed Chair of the Conductors Guild 2007 International Conference, the first international conference for conductors outside the USA. In 2006 Kristian Alexander was invited by the Conductors Guild to moderate in New York City a panel with conductors from The Juilliard School, the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors, and the Eastman School of Music. In 2007, he was appointed by the Conductors Guild advisor and host of the first International Workshop for conductors in Toronto, Canada.
Since then Kristian Alexander has conducted Kindred Spirits Orchestra (Toronto, Canada), Windsor Symphony Orchestra (Windsor, Canada), Orchestre Metropolitan (Montreal, Canada), Royal Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra (Toronto, Canada), Oakville Chamber Orchestra (Oakville, Canada), Vaughan Symphony Orchestra (Toronto, Canada), Bach-Collegium Stuttgart and Gächinger Kantorei (Stuttgart, Germany), the “Mozarteum” Symphony Orchestra (Sofia, Bulgaria), among others.
Research
Kristian Alexander is the author of: Le Magnificat: trois lecture musicales. L’interprétation de la symbolique et de la forme textuelle dans les Magnificat de H. Schütz, de J.S. Bach et de W.A. Mozart (Université de Montréal, Canada, 2005) , Utah Symphony and Utah Opera: a merger proposal (Rotman School of Management of the University of Toronto, 2004), and Mozart’s Davide penitente KV 469: Philosophical, aesthetics, formal, and conducting analysis (National Academy of Music, Sofia, 1994). He is also the author of two publications in major scientific journals: Typology of the form of the magnificat compositions and Energetic interactions between music text and sound: etude on philosophy of music.
Awards
Kristian Alexander is the recipient of grants and awards from the Canada Arts Council, London City Council, Université de Montréal, Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, Mozarteum Internationale Stiftung in Salzburg, Open Society Foundation in New York, Pro Helvetia Foundation in Bern, and National Music Academy in Sofia.
Sources
- Interview with Alexa Petrenko on Classical 96.3 FM "The Nation's Classical Station", October 30, 2009.
- Interview with Bill Andersen on Classical 96.3 FM "The Nation's Classical Station", July 29, 2009.
- Interview with France Beaudoin, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, January 8, 2007.
- In harmony with the world and with ourselves, “Music” magazine, Sofia, No 9-010/1993.
- An oboe d’amore is looking for sounds from the Mozart’s time, newspaper “Labor” (Trud), Sofia, No 202/28.08.1992.
- His Excellence Simeon II and Monsignor Mario Rizzi greeted Kristian A. Alexander for his interpretation of Mozart, newspaper “Labor” (Trud), Sofia, No 21.08.1992.
- Profile/interview and concert broadcasting on Bulgarian National Television, July 27, 1992.