Nadège Foofat
Recognized in 2018 by the League of American Orchestras for her “experience, talent, leadership potential, and commitment to a career in service to American orchestras”, Nadège Foofat is a frequent guest of symphonic orchestras across Canada and the United States.
In the 2022-2023 season, Nadège will be a candidate for the Music Director position at the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra in the USA, and the Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra, in Canada. A passionate champion for new music, Nadège has recently collaborated on a recording for the Sono Luminus label, conducting a new song cycle by Jonathan Newman for Fotina Naumenko. Other recent guest conducting engagements include the Orchestre Symphonique de l’estuaire, Kamloops Symphony Orchestra, Symphony New Brunswick and Symphony Nova Scotia.
As former Assistant Conductor to Kent Nagano, Nadège worked with the Hamburg State Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra on historical productions of Wozzeck, Lulu, Walküre, Madama Butterfly, Zauberflöte, and Stilles Meer, new productions of Fidelio and Parsifal, with Hamburg's St. Michaelis Choir, and at the International Musikfest Hamburg. From 2009-2014, Nadège was the Founder and Music Director of the Esopus Chamber Orchestra, a twenty-five-member award-winning professional chamber orchestra based in the Hudson Valley, New York.
An advocate for equal representation for women in orchestral concerts, Nadège's programs have included works by Amy Beach, Louise Farrenc, Jennifer Higdon, Mary Howe, Vítězslava Kaprálová, Missy Mazzoli, Florence Price, Joan Tower, and Gwyneth Walker.
Nadège enjoys collaborating as a violinist and violist in recital and chamber performances. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall, the Banff Centre, and MoMA. Nadège holds a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the Université de Montréal, a diploma in contemporary orchestral conducting from the Conservatorio della Svizzera, a masters degree in viola performance from the Yale School of Music, and a bachelors degree from the Juilliard School.
Nadège holds triple nationality between Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. She lives in Virginia with her husband, composer Jonathan Newman, and their two children.