Professor Jindong Cai
Jindong Cai joined the Stanford faculty in 2004 as the first holder of the Gretchen B. Kimball Director of Orchestral Studies Chair. He has held positions as assistant conductor with the Cincinnati Symphony and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, working closely with conductors Jésus López-Cobos, Erich Kunzel, and Keith Lockhart. He has also served on the faculties at Louisiana State University, the University of Arizona, the University of California at Berkeley, and the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati.
Mr. Cai has received much critical acclaim for his orchestral and opera performances. In 1992, his opera conducting debut took place at Lincoln Center's Mozart Bicentennial Festival in New York, when he appeared as a last minute substitute for the world premiere of a new production of Mozart's Zaide. The New York Times described the performance as "one of the more compelling experiences so far offered in the festival."
Mr. Cai maintains strong ties to his homeland and guest conducts several top orchestras in China including the China National Broadcasting Symphony, the National Opera and Ballet Theater of China, the Shanghai Symphony, and the Shanghai Broadcasting Symphony. In 1997, he conducted the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in the Chinese premiere of John Corigliano's Symphony No. 1 - the first major contemporary American work ever performed in that country.
Prof. Cai and SVAY are joined by a common vision: a vision to make Chinese music emerge in the American main stream and to integrate eastern and western musical cultures. Under Maestro Cai's baton, SVAY is reaching toward a new horizon.
