Music
Neeme Järvi
born 1937 · conductor
Estonian-born conductor who led the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1990 to 2005 in its restored Orchestra Hall, the second-longest tenure in the orchestra's history.
- Born
Tallinn, Estonia
age 89- Detroit years
- 1990–2005
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Järvi trained in Tallinn and at the Leningrad Conservatory and left Soviet Estonia for the United States in 1980. He became music director of the Detroit Symphony in 1990, a year after the orchestra had moved back into Orchestra Hall on Woodward Avenue after three decades at Ford Auditorium. His fifteen seasons are the second-longest tenure in the orchestra's history, after Ossip Gabrilowitsch. One of the most recorded conductors of his generation, with nearly 500 albums overall, he made many recordings with the DSO and took it on tour. The orchestra credits him with doubling concert subscriptions. His years also saw Orchestra Hall grow into the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, which opened in 2003 with a new recital hall and education wing. He stepped down in 2005 and holds the title of music director emeritus.
Highlights
- Music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, 1990–2005
- Second-longest tenure in DSO history, after Gabrilowitsch
- DSO subscriptions doubled during his tenure, per the orchestra
- Oversaw the 2003 expansion into the Max M. Fisher Music Center
- Music director emeritus of the DSO
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1990–2005
Detroit Symphony Orchestra — Orchestra Hall
The restored 1919 hall where Järvi led the orchestra for fifteen seasons and which grew into the Fisher Music Center in 2003.