Per Brevig, Conductor
Maestro Per Brevig brings extensive experience as both a performer and conductor to his position as the music director of the East Texas Symphony Orchestra.
Norwegian born, Mr. Brevig earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at The Juilliard School. He was principal trombonist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra from 1968 to 1994 and performed as a soloist with major orchestras throughout the world. He also played under many of the finest conductors of our time, including Abbado, Barbirolli, Bernstein, Gergiev, Karajan, Levine and Leopold Stokowsky with whom he also studied conducting.
Upon leaving the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Brevig’s conducting career expanded quickly, and in five years he conducted more than twenty operas, garnering great critical acclaim. Musical America wrote in one review that “the orchestra played expertly under Brevig’s authoritative leadership… he led the ensemble with aplomb and incisiveness.” The New York Times has called his performances “compelling” and “utterly convincing and rewarding.” “A man of taste and spirit.”
Mr. Brevig’s conducting repertoire now includes standard works from Renaissance to modern, and over the past few years he has worked with several of today’s top soloists, including Lang Lang, Hilary Hahn, Christine Brewer, Cho-Liang Lin and Lynn Harrell. In addition, Mr. Brevig is a staunch advocate of contemporary music and has commissioned and performed numerous premieres, both as a soloist and conductor. He is also a champion of Scandinavian music and is the founder and president of the Edvard Grieg Society, Inc. New York. Since 1991, the Society has, under his leadership, produced more than 70 events including chamber music, recitals, radio broadcasts and orchestral performances with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
Mr. Brevig holds teaching positions at several prestigious institutions, including The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music and the Aspen Music Festival and School. He has received numerous awards, including a Koussevitsky Fellowship, a Henry B. Cabot Award, three Naumburg Fellowships, the Neill Humfeldt Award for Excellence in Teaching, and a prize in the XIV International Music Competition in Prague. In 1990, King Olav V of Norway awarded Mr. Brevig with the Royal Medal of St. Olav in recognition of his efforts on behalf of Norwegian music and culture in the United States.
Mr. Brevig serves on the advisory boards of Medical Problems of Performing Artists and Musikphysiologie und Musik Medizin, a publication from Stuttgart, Germany. He resides in New Jersey with his wife Berit.
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