As the director of multiple orchestras and ensembles on the East Coast, Wesleyan Conductor Angel Gil-Ordoñez is no stranger to juggling responsibilities. After all, Gil-Ordonez, who flies between jobs in Washington D.C. and Hartford every week, is a Spanish Knight—an honor bestowed upon him in October of 2006.
“I was doing a lot to promote Spanish culture, so I was presented with this beautiful award,” he said.
Gil-Ordoñez has been teaching at Wesleyan for 10 years and is preparing to go on sabbatical next semester. As an adjunct professor of Music and director of the Wesleyan Orchestra, Concert Choir and Chamber Music Ensembles, his absence will leave a huge gap to fill. While Gil-Ordoñez is gone, Visiting Professor of Music Roy Wiseman will conduct the orchestra and Joseph D’Eugenio, the director of the Greater Middletown Chorale, will conduct the choir.
Gil-Ordoñez splits his week between Wesleyan and the Post-Classical Ensemble, an orchestra he founded in 2001 in Washington, D.C. He flies between his two jobs and still manages to conduct both with considerable energy.
“If you don’t like to get up at 4 a.m., it’s a little complicated,” Gil-Ordoñez said. “But if you get used to it, then it’s fine.”
In addition to conducting his orchestra in Washington, D.C. next semester, Gil-Ordoñez will also be conducting at the Pierpont Library in New York as well as presenting his new DVD, “The City,” which will be released in January. The DVD is a remake of the 1939 documentary film with a newly recorded soundtrack of Aaron Copland’s score, performed by the Post-Classical Ensemble under Gil-Ordoñez’s direction.
“I’m going to be presenting the DVD in New York, in Spain, in Germany, and of course in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “So, I will take advantage of those travels to give master conducting classes in both Spain and Germany.”
Gil-Ordoñez was born in Madrid and studied with the music director of the Munich Philharmonic in Germany, Sergiu Celibidache, for almost seven years. Then in 1991 he was named associate conductor of the National Orchestra in Madrid in 1991. He worked there for two years, before deciding to come to the United States with his wife.
“I was living in New York and then I decided to move to Washington because I thought Washington would be a better place to create something,” Gil-Ordoñez said.
Gil-Ordoñez is well-versed primarily in German, French and Spanish repertoire. He is also exploring an interest in music of the United States, as evidenced by his new recording of Aaron Copland’s work.
“Actually, my most important recordings are with American composers,” Gil-Ordoñez said.
Gil-Ordoñez’s primary instrument is the violin, but he also plays the piano, the clarinet, and has studied voice. His passion for music seems to inspire his students.
“I’ve worked with plenty of conductors and Angel is probably the most spirited I’ve ever met,” said Peter Gilchrist ’10, a former member of the Concert Choir. “It’s clear that he cares about both the music and the musicians he’s working with, and the energy and enthusiasm he has for his work is remarkable.”
As if Gil-Ordoñez didn’t have enough on his plate, he has other big plans for the future: he is currently planning a festival celebrating the American composer Lou Harrison that will integrate the Wesleyan Gamelan Ensemble in the fall of 2011. He is also working to bring the Spanish National Dance Company to the United States in 2010 for the U.S. premiere of a ballet by Manuel de Falla that is now called the “The Three-Cornered Hat.”
“I would like to bring a different context to classical performances,” he said.
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