about

Described as a conductor of “great intensity, without distancing, maneuvering, without indifference” (Neue Muzikzeitung - Leipzig) Zimbabwean-born conductor Vimbayi Kaziboni is widely sought-after for his depth of approach, interpretive imagination and expressivity, as well as his innovative and thoughtful curation. Kaziboni has led many critically lauded performances with orchestras across the globe, performing at some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world, including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, Royal Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie, Philharmonie de Paris, Royal Festival Hall & Queen Elizabeth Hall at Southbank Centre, and at Lincoln Center.

Recent collaborators have included the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Geneva Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Contrechamps, London Sinfonietta, City of Birmingham New Music Group, American Composers Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, and the Martha Graham Dance Company. Collaborations with acclaimed soloists have included Pierre Laurent Aimard, Tabea Zimmermann, Claire Chase, Juliet Fraser and Steven Schick among others. Upcoming debuts include performances with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, SWR Symphonieorchester, SWR Vokalensemble, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Musikkollegium Winterhur, RAI National Symphony Orchestra, and the New World Symphony. Return engagements this season include the BBC Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Klangforum Wien, International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Modern & Ensemble Modern Orchestra.

Celebrated as “a conductor who clearly knows his way around an avant-garde score” (The Times - London), critics have hailed Kaziboni among the foremost interpreters of modern classical music of his generation. He has led premieres of hundreds of new works across the globe by composers that include Georg Friedrich Haas (weiter und weiter und weiter…), George Lewis (Song of the Shank, Disputatio), Heiner Goebbels (House of Call), John Luther Adams (Prophecies in Stone), Augusta Read Thomas (The Auditions), Dai Fujikura (Shamisan Concerto), Liza Lim (The Spinning World), Yann Robin (Toccata), (Jacob TV (The News Suite), and worked with other leading composers that include George Benjamin, Helmut Lachenmann, Steve Reich, Rebecca Saunders, Felipe Lara, Morten Lauridsen, Olga Neuwirth and Matthias Pintscher, among many others. Moreover, he has had a long association with leading contemporary music groups, Ensemble Modern (Frankfurt) and Ensemble Intercontemporain (Paris) where he served as assistant conductor at the beginning of his career and now prolifically collaborates with as a guest conductor and curator.

Recently appointed conductor-in-residence of Klangforum Wien from January 2024, Kaziboni also currently serves as artist-in-residence and conductor of the International Contemporary Ensemble, music director of the Composers Conference, artistic advisor of the Boston Lyric Opera, and a professor of orchestral studies and contemporary music at Boston Conservatory at Berklee where he was 2019 Teacher of the Year. As the recipient of the 2024 Ditson Conductor’s Award from Columbia University, Kaziboni joins a list of conducting luminaries and personal artistic heroes that include Leonard Bernstein, James de Priest, Marin Alsop, Michael Tilson Thomas, and others.

A former Fulbright Fellow and a graduate of the International Ensemble Modern Academy, Kaziboni holds degrees from the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles and the University of Music and Performing Arts Frankfurt (HfMDK) in Germany.

(Updated June 2024)