Emil de Cou is an American conductor who became associate conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in September 2003 and has been an active participant in a wide range of NSO performances and events since his debut at Wolf Trap in 2000. He has led the orchestra on residency tours in five states, in subscription concerts at the Kennedy Center and on the West Lawn of the United States Capitol Building. In 2005 de Cou was named NSO at Wolf Trap Festival Conductor. He has most recently been named the music director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet starting with the 2011-2012 season. As such, in 2013, he was named by the New York Times critic Alastair Macaulay to be "probably...America?s finest ballet conductor." In 2007 de Cou conducted a concert with the NSO @ Wolf Trap in collaboration with NASA. It was a program titled "Fantastic Planet - a symphonic video spectacular" and incorporated the first ever in-time downloadable podcast to accompany a symphony orchestra concert. [More at Wikipedia]

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