Jackson, Isaiah (Allen)
Jackson, Isaiah (Allen)
Jackson, Isaiah (Allen), black American conductor; b. Richmond, Va., Jan. 22, 1945. He majored in Russian studies at Harvard Univ. (B.A., 1966), then studied conducting at Stanford Univ. (M.A., 1967), and composition with Boulanger at the American Cons, in Fontainebleau; completed his training at the Juilliard School in N.Y. (M.S., 1969; D.M.A., 1973). He was founder-conductor of the Juilliard String Ensemble (1970–71), and also asst. conductor of the American Sym. Orch. in N.Y. (1970–71). After serving as asst. conductor of the Baltimore Sym. Orch. (1971–73), he was assoc. conductor of the Rochester (N.Y.) Phil. (1973–87) and music director of the Flint (Mich.) Sym. Orch. (1982–87). He was music director of the Royal Ballet at London’s Covent Garden (from 1987) and of the Dayton (Ohio) Phil. (1987–90), and principal guest conductor of the Queensland Sym. Orch. in Brisbane (from 1993).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire