Maestro Vakhtang Jordania, first music director of the merged Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, died Tuesday night in Virginia, where he lived with his family.

Maestro Jordania was born in the
Republic of Georgia, studied symphonic and operatic conducting with many, including the legendary Yevgeny Mravinsky. Shortly after his stunning defection to the West, he served as CSO Music Director & Conductor from 1985 to 1992, and began an important international career.

Maestro Jordania's charisma, affinity with Russian music, and talent for discovering gifted, young musicians, influenced the musical landscape of Chattanooga and the world, CSO officials said.

CSO Music Director and Conductor Robert Bernhardt said, "I am deeply
saddened by Vakhtang's untimely death. As the first music director of the combined Symphony and Opera, he brought great leadership, energy and excitement to the CSO, and to our community. He was a wonderful colleague, and I will miss him greatly. I extend my sincerest sympathy to his family and to his legion of friends and admirers everywhere.

CSO Executive Director John Wehrle said, "My first thoughts are of the man, his kindness, charisma and personal charm, and passion for life, and then of his wife and children, with whom he shared a mutual devotion that was clearly evident when they visited last January.

"In addition to his personal attributes, he was a uniquely gifted musician, committed and passionate. The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera would not be where it is today without his investment of energy and talent in our first years. We
will all miss him."

Here is his bio from the jamesarts.com website

Vakhtang Jordania, who lived just outside of Washington, D.C., was born in the Republic of Georgia on Dec. 9, 1943, where he studied piano from the age of five. After graduating from the Tbilisi Conservatory, he studied symphonic and operatic conducting at the Leningrad Conservatory, graduating with honors. A top prize at the 1971 Herbert von Karajan Competition catapulted him to the highest circle of Soviet artistry. From his assistantship with the legendary Yevgeny Mravinsky until his defection to the United States in 1983, Mr. Jordania held positions as music director of the Leningrad Radio Orchestra, the Saratov Philharmonic, and the Kharkiv Philharmonic. The Tchaikovsky Competition was under his baton twice. Conducting for more than one hundred concerts a year, he regularly toured the USSR, collaborating with musicians such as David and Igor Oistrakh, Leonid Kogan, Dmitri Shostakovich, Kiril Kondrashin, and Emil Gilels.

Immediately after his defection, he made his Carnegie Hall debut, which was hailed by the New York Times as "a confident and spirited performance ... the full house leaped to its feet." Success followed in England, France, Germany, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Japan, Korea, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South America. In the United States, his appearances in New York, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Portland, Minneapolis, Rochester, Denver and Fort Worth brought more critical acclaim. Since his defection, he has held music director and/or principal guest conductor positions with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, the Spokane Symphony, the Korean Broadcasting System Symphony Orchestra in Seoul, and currently with the Russian Federal Orchestra of Moscow, Daegu City Symphony of South Korea, the St. Petersburg Festival Orchestra of Russia and Kharkov Philharmonic of Ukraine, with whom he is appointed for life. Jordania's homeland, the Republic of Georgia, recently bestowed on him the highest award given to outstanding Georgians, the Ordin of Honor. Also, the Ukraine awarded him their highest Medal of Honor for Musical Excellence.

Maestro Jordania has regularly conducted at many prestigious opera houses in Russia, the United States, the Ukraine, and Korea, including the Bolshoi and Kirov Theaters. In the United States he conducted the North American premiere of Dvorák's Rusalka. He is currently the Principal Guest Conductor of the Kharkov Opera, and the Korean American Opera Company.

He has recorded for Melodiya, Koch International Classics, Soundset Summit, Helicon, Trained Ear, Cantabile, and Angelok Classics, and been nominated for Grammy Awards. He also recorded many soundtracks, including the award-winning film Dersu Uzala, directed by Akira Kurosawa. Three of his compact discs have been nominated for Grammy Awards (Rachmaninoff Symphony No.2 with Russian Federal Orchestra, Angelok Classics; in five categories for Hovhaness Symphonies Nos. 46 and 39 with KBS Symphony Orchestra, KOCH International Classics; and music of James Cohn with Latvian National Symphony, XLNT Music).

In 1999 and 2000, the IBLA International Competition hosted the "Jordania Prize", which was named after Vakhtang Jordania, and designed to further the knowledge of young artists who compete in worldwide competitions. Maestro Jordania was honored in 2001 with the creation of the Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition in the Ukraine. Since then it has been an annually held event, which attracts contestants from over 25 different countries.