Gerhardt Zimmermann

Music Director

 

BIOGRAPHY
 

Maestro Gerhardt Zimmermann enters his 31st year as Music Director and Conductor of the Canton Symphony Orchestra. Zimmermann’s energetic and vibrant performances have drawn invitations to appear on the podium with the Cleveland, Chicago, National, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, New Jersey, Syracuse, Rochester and San Antonio orchestras. Other guest appearances include the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Orchestre Symphonique de Paris, the Toronto Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago’s Grant Park, Colorado Philharmonic and the Cleveland Opera.

In 2006, Zimmermann was named Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Texas, Austin. And after serving 21 years as Music Director/Conductor of the North Carolina Symphony, he is currently Conductor Laureate of that orchestra. This past summer, he returned to the Breckenridge Music Festival for his 13th season as Music Director and Principal Conductor.

After his debut with the Colorado Philharmonic in 2003, the Denver Post said “…one would be hard pressed to recall a better account of Edward Elgar’s ‘Enigma’ Variations. Zimmermann, though with a score on the music desk before the podium never opened it, and led the orchestra with command and sure concert. It was masterful, the orchestra responding with sonorous clarity.” And the Rocky Mountain News read: “Zimmermann and company created an exquisite reading of Elgar’s ‘Enigma’ Variations… the conductor, working from memory, made every note count. His control over the proceedings was complete, and the orchestra responded with some of its finest playing of the season.”

With headlines such as: “Zimmermann the Spark that ignites Grant Park Symphony”, “Canton Symphony steams up night”, “LPO (Louisiana Philharmonic) delivers drama with flair….”, and “Orchestra (Canton Symphony) gives impassioned Ninth Symphony (Mahler)”, Zimmermann consistently receives accolades from critics and audiences alike. He has recorded with the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Louisville Orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony on the MMA, Louisville, and Koch labels. Zimmermann has also appeared as a guest on Breakfast with the Arts, a weekly program on the Arts and Education Network.

As comfortable with opera as on the concert stage, the Maestro has conducted staged works of Mozart, Verdi, Strauss Jr., Puccini and Gershwin and made his debut with the Cleveland Opera in February of 2006, conducting Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. The Cleveland Plain Dealer remarked that “Zimmermann…went on to lead a warm, vivid reading… The orchestra responded with a keen blend of ensemble finesse and solo suavity”. The Akron Beacon Journal added “I’ve rarely heard the orchestra sound so full or play more expressively than under …… Zimmermann”.

Born in Ohio, Mr. Zimmermann lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife Sharon. They have two children, Anna Marie and Peter Karl Irum.