Marie Jacquot

Marie Jacquot is a French conductor who has been appearing with major opera companies and symphony orchestras in Europe and the United States. Listeners can expect a clear, energetic approach to large orchestral scores, particularly the narrative and ballet repertoire that anchors her upcoming US concerts, including Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet and selections from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and Prokofiev's Cinderella.

Jacquot's US programs lean toward richly orchestrated narrative works, music that tells a story through the orchestra rather than words. In San Francisco she leads Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, a score built from vivid contrasts, from the crushing weight of the "Dance of the Knights" to hushed, intimate string writing for the young lovers, alongside Augusta Holmes's rarely heard Andromède and Respighi's Concerto gregoriano, a violin concerto that borrows the modal, chant-like melodies of medieval church music. In Washington she pairs beloved ballet suites, Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and Prokofiev's Cinderella, with Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21, prized for its songful slow movement. Expect clean ensemble coordination and attention to the theatrical pacing these story-driven scores demand.