VSO Conductor Jaime Laredo
Wins Governor's Arts Award

Conductor and violinist Jaime Laredo, who played in Chandler Music Hall just last month, is this year's winner of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Governor James H. Douglas and the Vermont Arts Council will present the 2006 award to Laredo, conductor of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, in a public ceremony at the State House in Montpelier today (Thursday) beginning at 1 p.m.

The Governor’s Award is bestowed upon a Vermont artist who has achieved national or international stature for making a significant contribution to the advancement of his or her chosen art form.

Mr. Laredo was chosen for his decades of contributions to Vermont’s artistic landscape. As music director and conductor of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra since 1999, Mr. Laredo has brought outstanding classical music to the Green Mountains. Along with his wife, the flutist Sharon Robinson, Laredo has served as Artistic Advisor to the Brattleboro Music Center, and has been a principal figure with the Marlboro Music Festival since 1961.

In addition to his work in Vermont, Laredo is a world-renowned conductor, soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. He has won the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Violin Competition, the Deutsche Schallplatten Prize, a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance, and Musical America’s Award for Ensemble of the Year.

He has served as Artistic Director of New York’s renowned Chamber Music at the Y series, President of the Jury of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Artistic Director of the Brandenburg Ensemble, Conductor of the New York String Orchestra Seminar, and Linda and Jack Gill Professor of Violin at Indiana University.

The award ceremony is free and open to the public.