artistic director
Zimbabwe native Vimbayi Kaziboni (b. 1988) has received considerable acclaim across the globe as a “vigorous” conductor (Wiesbadener Kurrier), “of great intensity” (Neue Musikzeitung) and “absolutely superb interpretation” (composer Unsuk Chin). His young and versatile career has taken him to performances in Australia, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uzbekistan, performing at some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world, including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, Deutschlandfunk, Hessischer Rundfunk and Oper Frankfurt among others.
In his role as the Principal Conductor of the 2012-13 International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA), Mr. Kaziboni led many critically lauded performances in venues and festivals throughout Europe, including at Cresc...Biennale (Frankfurt, DE), Gaudeamus Muziekweek (Utrecht, NL), Forum für Neue Musik (Cologne, DE), the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Hochschulwettbewerb (Berlin, DE), Taschenopernfestival (Salzburg, AU), Musik-Festival Quantensprünge (Karlsruhe, DE), Voix Nouvelles (Royamont, FR). In commemoration of the ensemble’s tenth anniversary, Mr. Kaziboni led the ensemble in their debut studio recording “Euclidean Abyss” released on the EMM Label.
During his tenure at IEMA, Mr. Kaziboni served as Assistant Conductor of Ensemble Modern on numerous projects, including performances of Heinner Goebbels opera “Landschaft mit entfernten Verwandten”, Hans Werner Henze’s “Requiem”, “Loops and Lines” a ballet co-production with Stadtstheater Wiesbaden, and also covered the work of many renowned European conductors, including Stefan Asbury, Michael Boder, Peter Eotvos, Johannes Kalitzke, Franck Ollu, Markus Stenz, Lucas Vis and Jörg Wiedman. In September 2013 Mr. Kaziboni made his subscription debut conducting the Ensemble Modern on the 2013-14 season opening concert of the Happy New Ears concert series at Oper Frankfurt.
As founding artistic director and chief conductor of What’s Next? Ensemble since 2008 Mr. Kaziboni has been the guiding force in promoting the group’s philosophy of building up the local new music community through grassroots efforts. Under the auspices of the annual LA Composers Project, now in its sixth year, the group has brought together over a hundred local musicians to perform the music of nearly sixty Los Angeles based composers.
Mr. Kaziboni served as an apprentice conductor for the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra in South Africa (2010) and from 2010 to 2012 he worked as an assistant conductor of the Young Musicians Foundation’s (YMF) Debut Orchestra in Los Angeles. With Debut he assisted music directors Case Scaglione (2010-11) and Jorge Mester (2011-12) and a long list of renowned American conductors that include Toshiyuki Shimada, Michael Tilson Thomas and John Williams. Mr. Kaziboni has worked directly with many of the leading composers of the day including George Benjamin, Heiner Goebbels, Nicolaus A. Huber, William Kraft, Helmut Lachenmann and Morten Lauridsen.
Mr. Kaziboni was a distinguished fellow at the 2011 Salzburg Global Seminar on Music where he was the youngest fellow invited to be part of the assembly of global leaders in music. He has in addition, participated as a conducting fellow at the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, the Conductors Institute in New York, and the Klangspuren Schwaz Festival in Austria upon the invitation of Ensemble Modern.
Mr. Kaziboni holds degrees from the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt (HfMDK). He currently lives in Tashkent, Uzbekistan where as the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship he works with Central Asia’s sole contemporary music group Omnibus Ensemble.
