Spanish-born José-Luis Novo instilled a new and vibrant artistic vision into the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra since his appointment as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Maryland-based symphony in 2005. Highlights of Novo’s tenure include numerous appearances at the Music Center at Strathmore with violinists James Ehnes, Anne Akiko Meyers, Leticia Moreno, and Chee-Yun, pianist Olga Kern, late cellist Lynn Harrell, guitarist Manuel Barrueco, pipa virtuoso Wu Man, and the Naval Academy Glee Club. Also remarkable are a 2012 return appearance at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center with mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, national broadcasts on NPR’s Performance Today, debut TV broadcasts on Washington’s WETA Metro PBS, the launching of the ASO’s award-winning streaming platform Symphony+, the creation of the Annapolis Symphony Academy, and the ASO’s first commercial CD commemorating the 300th anniversary of the signing of the City of Annapolis’ Royal Charter. In July of 2022, Maestro Novo and the ASO stunned audiences on both sides of the Atlantic in a debut international tour to Spain with guitar virtuoso Pepe Romero as guest soloist.
Maestro Novo’s continuous drive for artistic excellence, innovative thematic programming, and collaborations with some of today’s most respected guest artists keeps generating unprecedented artistic growth and enthusiastic reviews from publications such as The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun.
In addition to his directorship of the ASO, Maestro Novo held an impressive thirteen-year tenure as Music Director and Conductor of the Binghamton Philharmonic in New York state from 2003 to 2016. Prior to this, he served as Assistant Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under both late Music Director Emeritus Jesús López-Cobos and former Music Director Paavo Järvi, and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra under the late Erich Kunzel.
Recent and upcoming guest conducting engagements include debut appearances with the Rochester Philharmonic, Grand Rapids, Hilton Head, Palm Beach, Alexandria, and South Bend Symphony Orchestras, and return appearances with the Baltimore Symphony, Fresno Philharmonic, Symphoria, and a Kimmel Center debut in Philadelphia conducting the Curtis Institute Orchestra. After a successful debut with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra (TPO) for the Thailand International Composition Festival in 2015, Maestro Novo has been invited back regularly to guest conduct the TPO on several occasions. Other guest conducting engagements have included appearances with the Symphony Silicon Valley; the Minnesota Orchestra; the Syracuse, Modesto, Windsor, Stamford, Tulsa, and Tallahassee Symphonies; the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra; the Cleveland and Abilene Philharmonics; and most of the major Spanish orchestras.
José-Luis Novo has also fostered a reputation as a keen educator of young musicians. He has held conducting positions with the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra, University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, Miami University Symphony Orchestra, and National Repertory Orchestra, and has been on the conducting faculty at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina since 1999. In addition, he has conducted many noteworthy college and youth orchestras such as the Curtis Institute Orchestra, Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, Bard Conservatory Orchestra, Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra, and the Portuguesa State Youth Orchestra of the Venezuelan El Sistema. Last season, under the auspices of the Annapolis Symphony Academy, he presided over the debut of its Orion Youth Orchestra, conducting the inaugural concert in June 2022.
Maestro Novo was featured in the League of American Orchestras Symphony magazine in "Podium Powers," an article about emerging Hispanic conductors in the United States of America. He holds music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, Yale University, and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, and is the recipient of a 2010 Annie Award in Performing Arts from the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, a 2008 American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers Adventurous Programming Award, and a 2005 Broome County Arts Council Heart of the Arts Award.