Yondani Butt

Yondani C. C. Butt is an orchestral conductor. He was born in Macao of Chinese parentage. He studied music at Indiana University and the University of Michigan. He also has a PhD in chemistry, on which subject he has published numerous research papers, particularly on polyene photochemistry.

As founder of Symphonie Canadiana, he has led the orchestra on major tours throughout North America. Since 1983, he has held the position of Resident Conductor of the Victoria International Festival. Butt has recorded and performed in the US, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Europe. He has led the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, the American Symphony (with which he performed a Brahms cycle in New York), Hamilton Philharmonic of Canada, Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Mexico, Singapore Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Japan Gunma Symphony and Het Gelders Orkest, amongst many others. Works he has recorded included the First Symphony of Mahler, the Glazunov Third, the Saint-Saens Second, and much more.

He received the MRA Gramophone Award in 1986 and 1995.