KUOPIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA / FINLAND

“The guest conductor Joel Smirnoff gave the musicians just the appropriate amount of space and took the lead in the more integral moments. The sound captured a good chamber music spirit in a larger scale. There was just the right amount of enthusiasm and passion in the air.”

SAVON SANOMAT (FINLAND)

ST. PAUL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

“The orchestra responded with a fine Fifth of Schubert, highlighted by the flamboyant and energetic conducting of Smirnoff…it’s a nostalgic homage to Mozart, and Smirnoff impressively executed the balancing act of keeping a foot in each era.”

ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS

BASEL SINFONIETTA

“At the moment, the Basel Sinfonietta is at its best; Smirnoff has worked excellently with the musicians and was able to release a great deal of energy from the orchestra. This was proved […] above all after the intermission by Witold Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra (1954), which demanded the utmost skill from the orchestra, both from a technical point of view and from the ensemble of the players.”

NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG

TANGLEWOOD MUSIC CENTER ORCHESTRA

“… [Joel Smirnoff] proved a gifted and sympathetic conductor, moving with balletic fluency and assuring an intimate relationship between the words and rhythms of the singers and the colors of the chamber orchestra.”

BOSTON GLOBE