PPO music director Olivier Ochanine wins American Prize in Conducting

Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director Olivier Ochanine. PHOTO: The American Prize

Maestro Olivier Ochanine, the music director and chief conductor of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, has won The American Prize in Conducting (Professional Orchestra Division), the award-giving body announced Saturday.

In an email communication to GMA News Online on Saturday morning quoting David Katz, chief judge of The American Prize, the announcement said, “Mr. Ochanine was selected from applications reviewed earlier this Fall and Winter from all across the United States.”

Ochanine's run at the PPO ends in June. He has headed the country's leading orchestra since March 2015, when he became the youngest PPO music director and chief conductor.

He was also the 1st Prize Winner of the 2015 Antal Dorati International Conducting Competition in Budapest, Hungary, surpassing about 120 other conductors from 23 countries. The 2015 Antal Dorati International Conducting Prize leads to more performances in Europe.

Ochanine also received 2nd Prize at the 2015 London Classical Soloists International Conducting Competition, where he conducted the orchestra in various Beethoven symphonies.

In making the announcement, Katz said, “Most artists may never win a Grammy award, or a Pulitzer, or a Tony, or perhaps even be nominated, but that does not mean that they are not worthy of recognition and reward. Quality in the arts is not limited to the coasts, or to the familiar names, or only to graduates of a few schools … The American Prize exists to encourage and herald that excellence.”

“By shining a light on nationally recognized achievement, winners of The American Prize receive world-class bragging rights to use in promotion right at home. If The American Prize helps build careers, or contributes to local pride, or assists with increasing the audience for an artist or ensemble, builds the donor base, or stimulates opportunities or recruitment for winning artists and ensembles, then we have fulfilled our mission.”

Reacting to the announcement of his winning The American Prize, Ochanine sent an email statement to the GMA News Online, hours after the award-giving body disclosed the names of the winners.

'The only way to live is to constantly work in pushing my limits'

In an email to GMA News Online, Ochanine said he was honored to be chosen as the winner, "considering this selection was made from a large pool of conductors nation-wide."

"The award pushes me to improve further and to become a more efficient, communicative, expressive and an inspiring musician,” he added.

Referring to the other prizes he won last year, Ochanine said, “I take this honor and the others I had received the past year as encouragements. These awards do not mean I've reached a particularly high level of musicianship. Instead, these prizes and awards strengthen my belief that the only way to live is to constantly work in pushing my limits and to always keep my artistic goals on my radar.”

Ochanine, a native of Paris, started music studies in France and continued in the United States.

As part of his outreach mission in the Philippines, Ochanine is head conductor for the Orchestra of the Filipino Youth, an orchestra geared toward talented youth in economically challenged situations. Ochanine frequently works with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra and with the Sichuan Philharmonic Orchestra.

Also a flutist and bassist, Ochanine earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky, expanded his focus to orchestral conducting by taking up graduate studies and attending master classes with Mark Gibson, Gustav Meier, Marin Alsop, Larry Livingston, Robert Baldwin, John Barnett, John Farrer, and Achim Holub.

He obtained his Masters Degree in Conducting from the University of Southern California (USC), where he was given the Conducting Department Award in 2003. In 2009, he began his Ph.D. studies in Orchestral Conducting at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music under Mark Gibson.

Founded in 2009, the American Prize is a series of non-profit competitions designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles, and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings.

In addition to conducting and ensemble awards, The American Prize sponsors competitions for vocalists, composers, pianists, and chamber musicians. The American Prize is administered by the Hat City Music Theater, a non-profit performing arts organization based in Danbury, Connecticut.

Katz was joined by a panel of judges composed of distinguished musicians representing virtually every US region, including professional vocalists, conductors, composers and pianists, tenured professors and orchestra, band and choral musicians, in selecting the winners. — BM, GMA News