CV of Michel Havenith

Michel Havenith started his professional music education at the Maastricht Conservatory where he studied Music Education. During this study he discovered that his real interest was in fact conducting. After his degree he he continued his education in choral conducting with Frans Moonen at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. During his study in The Hague another interest came to light - conducting orchestras. After receiving his 'Performing Musician' degree in choral conducting, orchestral conducting was a logical next step. He studied with Pierre Stoll and Lucas Vis at The Hague and continued his study with Antoni Ros Marbà at The Rotterdam Conservatory. There he received his 'Performing Musician' degree in orchestral conducting.

After his conservatory degrees, he set out to further qualify himself by taking many courses and masterclasses in conducting. He was selected as a participant in the first conducting masterclass of the Netherlands Chamber Choir with Uwe Gronostay, which resulted in concerts with the NCC. In Italy, Austria, Germany, Switserland, the former GDR and The Netherlands, he was selected to take part in masterclasses with acclaimed conductors such as John Eliot Gardiner.

Since its foundation in 1977, Michel Havenith was conductor of the Maastricht University Choir. Shortly after, he conducted many choirs, ranging from small chamber choirs to large choral societies throughout The Netherlands. From 1983,  conducting amateur-symphony orchestras and instrumental ensembles also became part of his curriculum. During this period he was conductor of the Rijnlands Symfonie Orkest for more than 19 years. Performances with professional orchestras followed, like the Limburgs Symphonie Orkest, The Noordhollands Philharmonisch orkest and the Netherlands String Orchestra.

With the Chamber Opera Foundation he conducted several opera performances, for Greg & Baud Productions he conducted musicals and with the Dutch Broadcast Choir in Hilversum he recorded for radio. Abroad he appeared as a guest conductor with symphony orchestras in Macedonia and Romania, while he was also a frequent guest conductor in Spain with the symphony orchestras of Asturias and Granada.

Michel Havenith was founder and artistic leader/conductor of Sfinx Vocal Ensemble and the Netherlands String Orchestra. He appeared as conductor in various musical projects and conducted and organized orchestral projects in his home town Zoetermeer. In more recent years he gravitated towards teaching and he is now increasingly spending his time leading conducting courses, musical trainings for music school teachers, individual conducting lessons and as a coaching sessions for conductors.

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