French conductor Jean Thorel was awarded the Vocation Foundation Prize. As a guest conductor he has performed with the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, Ensemble Quartz, Musiques Nouvelles in Belgium, Athelas Sinfonietta, the Danish Chamber Players, Percurama Copenhagen, the Bolshoi Theatre Percussion Ensemble, So Percussion in Washington, the Copenhagen Royal Ballet, Musica Vitae in Sweden, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Aarhus and Odense Symphony Orchestras, the Russian National Orchestra, the EOS Repertoire Orchestra in Beijing, the National Light Orchestra in Shanghai, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Nice and Marseille Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Hilliard Ensemble, among others.
From 2008 to 2016 he was chief conductor of City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong and led numerous concerts with world-class artists. An impassioned promoter of new works and rare music, he has given 700 world premieres and has appeared regularly at major festivals of contemporary music.
Jean Thorel’s discography includes a recording of works by Louis Saguer with the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble which won the 2002 Académie du Disque Lyrique Orphée d’Or prize.
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