The Elton B. Stephens Chair
Maestro Justin Brown commences his third season at the helm of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra as the Elton B. Stephens Music Director and Principal Conductor, 2008-09. Also this season, Brown begins his tenure as General Music Director of the Badisches Staatstheater Opera House in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Over the course of his distinguished career, Justin Brown has established a reputation of artistic acclaim. He received a Gramophone Award as well as a GRAMMY nomination for Best Classical Album for the 2006 release of Peter Lieberson's Buddhism-inspired "The Six Realms," part of "Lieberson: Rilke Songs, The Six Realms, Horn Concerto." His latest recording of works by Gershwin with the Dallas Symphony was selected as "Editor's Choice" by Gramophone Magazine.
He has worked with numerous orchestras throughout the UK and Europe including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Brown's first collaboration with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (in Great Britain) resulted in a critically acclaimed recording of Elgar and Barber Cello Concertos with French cellist Anne Gastinel.
Operatically, Justin Brown's performances of Fidelio at Lisbon's Teatro San Carlo, La Traviata and The Love for Three Oranges in Stuttgart, Don Giovanni in Frankfurt, Il Turco in Italia in Nantes and Carmen, La Traviata and Un Ballo in Maschera at the Norwegian Opera in Oslo have brought him great success.
As a pianist, Justin Brown has been hailed in the Swedish press as "one of the most sensitive and emotionally rich chamber musicians of recent years." He performs regularly now as both soloist and conductor in Europe and America. ASO audiences have already heard him in works ranging from Bach to Rachmaninov and Shostakovich, and this season he will play concertos by Mozart (No. 23) and Beethoven (Triple Concerto).