Kuerti named assistant conductor to Boston Symphony

Canadian musician Julian Kuerti has been named assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where he will work with music director James Levine.

"It's a fantastic opportunity — not only to work with one of the foremost orchestras, but also to learn from one of the absolute masters of the profession," said Kuerti, a Toronto native who trained as a violinist and began conducting in 2000.

He will begin a two-year contract in October, making his BSO debut next season at Symphony Hall in Boston.

Kuerti and South Korea native Shi-Yeon Sung were chosen as assistant conductors through an audition process. They replace Ludovic Morlot and Jens Georg Bachmann, whose three-year tenures will end this summer.

Kuerti has trained at the Tanglewood Music Centre (TMC), which is associated with the BSO, including three weeks under the guidance of Levine conducting Don Giovanni in master classes with the TMC Orchestra.

Another Canadian musician, James Sommerville, who is principal horn player with BSO, is taking up conducting duties at the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO).

Sommerville becomes artistic director at the HPOstarting July 1 and will conduct the HPO's closing concert of this season May 26. He was chosen after a two-year search by the orchestra, based in Hamilton, Ont.

Kuerti is the son of world-renowned pianist Anton Kuerti and cellist Kristine Bogyo, founder and director of Toronto's Mooredale Concerts.

He studied engineering physics at University of Toronto, while serving as concert master and violin soloist at the Hart House Orchestra.

In 2001, he moved to Germany to train as a conducter with Lutz Koehler at the University of Arts, Berlin. He has worked with the Berliner Symphoniker and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.

Kuerti will also make his debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on June 23 and 24, conducting Tchaikovsky's Fantasy Overture to Romeo and Juliet as well as selections from Bizet's Carmen.