Vimbayi Kaziboni

Artistic Advisor at Boston Lyric Opera

Born in Zimbabwe, Kaziboni has served as assistant conductor of two of the foremost orchestras of contemporary music, Ensemble InterContemporain (France) and Ensemble Modern (Germany), ensembles he now regularly conducts as guest conductor. Additionally, Kaziboni has been conductor of the International Ensemble Modern Academy (Germany), artistic director of the What’s Next? Ensemble (Los Angeles) and the New Philharmonic (Omaha), and assistant professor of music and director of orchestral activities at Gettysburg College (Pennsylvania).

Kaziboni has led critically lauded performances with orchestras across the globe, (Australia, Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uzbekistan), performing at some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world, including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, Lincoln Center, South Bank Centre, Philharmonie de Paris, Elbphilharmonie, Deutschlandfunk, Hessischer Rundfunk, Oper Frankfurt, and Sala Sao Paulo.

In the 2019–2020 season, Kaziboni will make debuts at the Berlin Philharmonie, Kölner Philharmonie, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Wiener Konzerthaus, and the Royal Concertgebouw. He will also make debuts conducting the London Sinfonietta, Boston Lyric Opera, the Los Angeles Philharmonic (National Composers Intensive), and will serve as assistant conductor to Sir Simon Rattle at the BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall (England).

Among the foremost interpreters of modern and contemporary music of his generation, Kaziboni has worked directly with many of today’s leading composers, including Helmut Lachenmann, Steve Reich, George Benjamin, Heiner Goebbels, Augusta Read Thomas, John Adams, George Lewis, Liza Lim, Morten Lauridsen, Dai Fujikura, Rebecca Saunders, Matthias Pintscher, Olga Neuwirth, Bruno Mantovani, Nicolaus A. Huber, and Jacob TV, among many others. In addition to Ensemble Modern and Ensemble Intercontemporain, recent collaborators have included the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie (Germany), International Contemporary Ensemble (New York), Ensemble Contrechamps (Geneva), the Omaha Symphony, Hamburg Camerata, the Omnibus Ensemble (Tashkent) and the Martha Graham Dance Company (New York).

A former Fulbright Fellow (2013–2014), Kaziboni holds degrees from the University of Southern California and the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. Kaziboni is in his third year at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he is an assistant professor of orchestral studies and contemporary music. In 2019, he was named the institution’s Teacher of the Year.

Timeline

  • Artistic Advisor

    Current role

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