Jordan de Souza: When the Musical Score Reveals the Human Being

MONTREAL: CITY OF HIS HEART

Jordan’s parents left Goa, India, during the 1970s to settle in Montreal, and subsequently, Toronto, where Jordan grew up with his seven brothers and sisters. He focused his music studies on the organ and on choral music. After graduating from St. Michael’s Choir School, he moved to Montreal to study organ at McGill University. The quality of life, education, and relationships in the city of a thousand steeples inspired him. Montreal felt like home. He soon developed a passion for conducting.

We’re in a very fortunate period in which people are willing to try just about any idea born of true musical and dramatic inspiration.

– Jordan de Souza

FROM THE ORGAN CONSOLE TO THE PODIUM

Very soon, Jordan’s teachers began to assign him to conduct renowned ensembles, including the Choir of the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul and the I Musici chamber orchestra. His curiosity, energy, and desire to share music are infectious. Opera companies began opening their doors to him, and collaborations with Tapestry Opera and the Canadian Opera Company ensued. In 2017, he was named First Kapellmeister of the Berlin Comic Opera, a prestigious title that led to a 4-year collaboration with the opera director Barrie Kosky on acclaimed productions, while also working with eminent orchestras and opera houses throughout the world.

THE INTRICACIES OF THE SCORE

For Jordan de Souza, it is essential to focus the work of conducting on an in-depth study of the musical score. A score can reveal the innermost nature of a work as well as a composer’s most intimate choices. But a score can also harbour secrets… In some of Mozart’s works, for instance, opera characters are portrayed through musical language: their subtle relationships and minute character traits are embedded in the music, to be discovered. A passionate conductor, deeply engaged with the music and an excellent communicator with musicians, Jordan values the importance of being in the present moment and of giving everything of oneself to achieve one’s insights and attain one’s dreams. Jordan de Souza makes his Maison symphonique debut with the OSM on May 18 and 19 in the concert From Mozart to Shostakovich: Humanity in Movement.