Per Brevig

Per Brevig is currently the Music Director and Conductor of East Texas Symphony Orchestra. He brings extensive experience as both performer and conductor to the podium. He is attracting attention internationally as a conductor of remarkable ability and insight. Critical acclaim has earned him an international reputation as a superb conductor and orchestra builder. Norwegian born, Mr. Brevig received his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at The Juilliard School. He was Principal Trombonist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra from 1968 to 1994 and has performed as soloist with major orchestras throughout the world. He is credited with numerous commissions and premier’s and also has an extensive solo discography. In addition, he is a frequent adjudicator of major competitions.

On leaving his position with the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Brevig’s conducting career expanded quickly. In the five years following 1994, he conducted more than twenty operas. A review in the New York Times declared Mr. Brevig “shaped the performance [of Rigoletto] artfully”. In addition to his position as Music Director and Conductor of East Texas Symphony Orchestra, he is continuing his teaching affiliations with the Aspen Music Festival, Colorado, as well as the music schools of Juilliard, Manhattan and Mannes in New York. His conducting repertoire runs the gamut from Renaissance to contemporary music. A staunch advocate of contemporary music, he has commissioned and performed numerous new works. Mr. Brevig has conducted many of the most world renowned soloists such as Christine Brewer, Eroica Trio, Hilary Hahn, Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirshbaum, Lang Lang, Cho-Liang Lin, Mark O’Connor, Pepe Romero, Itzhak Perlman, Haochen Zhang et al.

Per Brevig has received numerous awards including a Koussevitsky Fellowship, Henry B. Cabot Award, three Naumburg Fellowships, The International Music Competition in Prague, and The Neill Humfeldt Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 1990 King Olav V of Norway awarded him the Royal Medal of St. Olav in recognition of his efforts on behalf of Norwegian music and culture in the United States.

Mr. Brevig has studied the medical problems faced by musicians and serves on the Advisory Boards of Medical Problems of Performing Artists and Musikphysiologie und Musik Medizin, apublication from Stuttgart, Germany.

A champion of Scandinavian music, Mr. Brevig is founder and president of the Edvard Grieg Society, Inc., New York. Since 1991 the Society has, under his leadership, produced recitals, chamber performances, radio broadcasts and symposia at Columbia University to celebrate the composer’s sesquicentennial. The series of events often culminate with performances at Lincoln Center with Mr. Brevig conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. New York Times wrote: “…orchestra of St. Luke’s, conducted by Per Brevig in a compelling concert … Brevig was utterly convincing and rewarding.” Musical Americawrote: “…It all added up to a remarkable evening indeed … It was the occasion for much estimable and rewarding music making.”

Mr. Brevig has been a member of the Brass faculty at Manhattan School of Music, where he also teaches in the Orchestral Performance Program, since 1988.