| Biography | Enrique Jordá (March 24, 1911 March 18, 1996) was a Spanish-American conductor. Born in San Sebastián (Guipúzcoa, Spain), later on he was a naturalized US citizen.
After conducting in Madrid, Cape Town and Antwerp, he was music director of the San Francisco Symphony from 1954 to 1963. He made several stereophonic recordings in San Francisco for RCA Victor in 1957 and 1958.
During his tenure in San Francisco he gave the world premiere of Joaquin Rodrigo's Fantasia para un Gentilhombre with Andrés Segovia as the soloist. Mr. Jorda made recordings with both the San Francisco Symphony and the Symphony of the Air, several of which have recently been reissued on CD. His final recordings with the orchestra were for CRI in 1962.
After he left San Francisco, he was a guest conductor in Europe, South America and Australia. He published a book on conducting, "El Director de Orquesta Ante la Partitura," in 1969, and from 1970 to 1976 was the music director of the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra.
During the San Francisco Symphony's 1973 European tour, the musicians were reunited with Jordá for the final time. Jordá died at 84 in Brussels, Belgium following a two-month illness related to a blood transfusion.
His daughter Tessa is married to David William Brewer, Lord Mayor of London between 2005 and 2006. |