Maestro Gergiev to extend
his tenure as Artistic Director

We are pleased to announce that Maestro Valery Gergiev, the sixth Artistic Director of PMF, has agreed to extend his tenure with the festival through 2020!

Applications for the PMF 2017 Orchestra, Conducting, and Vocal Academies are now being accepted. All auditions take place through online video submissions on the audition site “Acceptd.” For details, please click here. Also, take a look at the new PMF Outline page!

What was your impression of PMF when you passed the audition and attended the event as an Academy member, and what do you remember the most about your time at PMF?
I am honored to have been a part of PMF in 1996. I have such wonderful memories from my time in Sapporo, it was my first time visiting Japan and I fell in love with the country. Everyone was so welcoming and I really felt I was surrounded by great students and coaches alike. I had the privilege to play principal horn on Cosi Fan Tutte under Maestro Eschenbach and many of the principal winds, brass and strings were from the Vienna Philharmonic. I learned so much during my time at PMF.

A quarter-century after the founding of PMF in 1990, there are now around 3,300 alumni worldwide. What impact does PMF have on your current musical life?
Honestly, the biggest impact of PMF is the good friends I still have from all around the world. I keep in touch with many of them and it's wonderful to be able to reconnect whenever we are traveling. It's amazing to think back to when we were just starting out and to see where we are now in great jobs doing what we love. PMF was a big part of that transformation.

PMF will continue to foster young musicians and offer the inspirational power of music to a broad, global audience, inheriting founder Leonard Bernstein's vision, contributing to the classical music culture of the world, and thereby to world peace. What kind of festival would you like to see it become?
I would love to see more educational outreach. Sharing the joy of classical music is important to the longevity of our art form. It would be great to expose the students to preparation and performances of outreach programs to spark the curiosity of young people and educate our adult audiences. It is such an important skill to develop as a young musician, and it's vitally important to share our love for classical music.

Denise Tryon
A native of Roseville, MN, Denise Tryon joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2009 as fourth horn. Previously the fourth horn of the Detroit Symphony (2003-2009), she has also held positions with the Baltimore (2000-2003), Columbus (1998-2000), and New World (1995-1998) Symphonies and has participated in the Colorado Music Festival and the Pacific Music Festival. An accomplished solo performer, Tryon has performed recitals in Sweden, Norway, Poland, Japan, and the United States.
In 1989, Tryon graduated from the famed Interlochen Arts Academy and in 1993 received her Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston. She received the Presidential Scholarship while in the Artist Diploma Program at NEC with the Taiyo Wind Quintet, which won the Coleman Chamber Competition, and worked with great composers such as John Harbison, Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, and Elliott Carter.
An active and accomplished educator, Tryon is sought after for her masterclasses. She has taught extensively in the United States, Scandinavia, Europe, and Asia. In 2015, Tryon released her debut solo album SO・LOW, for which she commissioned 4 new pieces for low horn and piano.
In 2016, Tryon was on faculty during the brass weeks at Domaine Forget. Since 2007 she has served on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.

Other interests
Tennis, French bulldogs, and “a serious love of the octopus (although I don't eat it).”