Nathalie Stutzmann's Longtime Manager Departs for New Jersey Symphony

Gaetan Le Divelec, the former Askonas Holt agent who managed Nathalie Stutzmann throughout her singing and conducting career, has joined the New Jersey Symphony as Vice President of Artistic Planning & Operations. The move ends a working partnership that followed Stutzmann to Atlanta four years ago, when she won the music director's post at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Le Divelec joined her there as Vice President of Artistic Planning.

The split, reported by Slippedisc, appears amicable. The site described the parting as one that had simply come, "perhaps in both parties' interests."

What does the new job involve?

The New Jersey Symphony set out his remit in an announcement from Newark. Le Divelec will work alongside Music Director Xian Zhang, Principal Guest Conductor Joshua Bell, and President & CEO Terry D. Loftis. His duties:

• planning the Symphony's seasons;
• engaging guest artists and conductors;
• overseeing orchestra operations for performances across the state.

He arrives as the orchestra builds Symphony Center in Jersey City, its new permanent office, rehearsal and concert space. That expansion gives his role a concrete institutional stake: he will help shape the artistic programme of an orchestra in the middle of a physical and territorial growth phase.

Who is Gaetan Le Divelec?

His career spans 35 years in classical music, 15 of them in senior leadership. He spent more than two decades at the London-based artist management firm Askonas Holt, which he joined in 1999. There he managed a roster of conductors and instrumental soloists including Sir András Schiff, Robin Ticciati, Nathalie Stutzmann, Alisa Weilerstein and Matthias Pintscher. Named a Director of the company in 2016, he led a team of managers responsible for more than 30 world-class artists, according to the Symphony's announcement.

He began on the other side of the industry. Le Divelec trained as an oboist and performed and taught in London for a decade before crossing into management.

What does this change for Stutzmann?

The practical question for the Atlanta music director is who now manages the relationships Le Divelec handled. His move removes an ally who tracked her dual career as singer and conductor from the start, and who relocated to Atlanta when she took the podium. Stutzmann remains in her Atlanta post; the announcement concerns only Le Divelec's destination.

For the New Jersey Symphony, the hire imports a manager with deep European contacts and two decades of roster experience at the top of the agency world. His first seasons with Xian Zhang, and the opening phases of Symphony Center in Jersey City, will show what that experience buys.

By Marcus Bennett