Maestro Joel Revzen is an award-winning conductor of symphony and opera, whose career has been truly international in scope. Prior to his appointment as Artistic and General Director of the Arizona Opera in 2003, Maestro Revzen joined the conducting staff of New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1999 and has been involved over the seasons helping to prepare wide-ranging repertoire including Prokofiev’s War and Peace, Dvorak’s Russalka, and Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier.

During his 14 year tenure as Artistic Director of the Berkshire Opera he commissioned and produced the world premiere of Steve Paulus’ opera Summer, based on the Edith Wharton novella, and the critically acclaimed recording of Menotti’s The Consul. In the world of opera, Maestro Revzen has led productions with the National Theatre of Mannheim Germany, the Washington Opera at the Kennedy Center, Minnesota Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, the Norwegian Opera in Oslo, and numerous productions with the world-renowned Kirov Opera at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Russia – most recently in 2006 when he performed a program of Leonard Bernstein the White Nights Festival.

Currently in his 10th  season as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Arizona Opera, Maestro Revzen has led over 100 performances of a vast variety of operatic repertoire that has featured such renowned artists as Stephanie Blythe, Dolora Zajick, Christine Brewer, Greer Grimsley, Nancy Gustafson, and Gordon Hawkins.

In 2011-2012 Maestro Revzen  led productions at Arizona Opera of Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, Faust, and Orfeo ed Euridice.  In addition, in 2012 he will lead productions of  Rigoletto with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, and a production of Carmen for Theatre Erfurt in Germany.  Productions in 2013 include Tosca, Il Trovatore, and Le Nozze di Figaro with the Arizona Opera.

In 2010-2011 Maestro Revzen led  productions of Carmen, Otello, Pirates of Penzance and Abduction from the Seraglio in his capacity as Principal Conductor of the Arizona Opera, La Traviata with Opera Carolina, and will make his debut leading a subscription program of Verdi, Mahler and Mendelssohn with the Phoenix Symphony.

In the Symphonic world, Maestro Revzen served as Assistant Conductor of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra from 1984-1989, a post to which he was appointed by violinist and conductor Pinchas Zuckerman, and was on the conducting faculty of the Aspen Music Festival from 1982 – 1991. Since that time, he has appeared as guest conductor with the Prague Symphony, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Janacek Philharmonic, Orchestra National de Lyon, Orchestra Capital de Toulouse, Philharmonic de Radio France, National Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center Chamber Players, Seattle Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Florida Philharmonic, the National Arts Center Orchestra, and the Chamber Orchestra of San Remo, Italy among many others.

Maestro Revzen has an active recording career including two releases with the London Symphony Orchestra, Haydn’s Creation and The Seasons with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, in addition to the Grammy-award winning The Art of Arleen Auger on which he was both pianist and conductor. His recording of the Mendelssohn Double Concerto with the Moscow Symphony was released on Newport classics, as well as an all Libby Larsen recording with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and soprano Benita Valente for Koch Recordings.

In academia, Mr. Revzen served as the Dean of the St Louis Conservatory of Music from 1972- 1984, and was responsible for building that school from its inception from a student body of 11 students and a budget of $50,000 to a nationally recognized training institution of 120 student from 26 state and 13 foreign countries, with an annual budget of over $2.7 million dollars.