Enrique Diemecke, music director of the Flint Symphony Orchestra, recently received his fourth Jean Fontaine Orpheus d'Or Gold medal for his recording of Jules Massenet's opera, 'Le Jongleur de Notre Dame.' Spanish-language news agency EFE announced Diemecke's Orpheus award, an international grand prize for "best vocal music recording" by the French Academy of Lyric Recordings.

The opera - 'The Juggler of Notre Dame' was performed in 2007 with internationally renowned tenor Roberto Alagna and the Orchestra National de Montpellier in France. It was released as a CD in France by Deutsche Grammophon in the fall of 2009.

The International Grand Prize of the French Academy of Lyric Recordings was presented at the Olivier Messiaen Amphitheatre of the Bastille Opera. Diemecke spoke with EFE just minutes after accepting the award, "This prize is a very special thing; a commendation that opera and lyric experts give to the year's most outstanding recordings, and to be a nominee or to win it means a great deal to me," he said.

Diemecke's presence at the awards ceremony was serendipitous. Diemecke was on break from conducting duties with the Orchestra of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, "It was pure luck that I had the good fortune to be here," he said, speaking of UNAM's decision to suspend classes for a week in observance of May holidays. In fact, this was the first time Diemecke was present to accept one of his four Orpheus prizes.

As it happens, the recording itself seemed guided by luck. Alagna was scheduled to give a recital in Montpellier, France when "All of a sudden they got the idea to do an opera, and he chose 'The Juggler,' in which the main character is a tenor. They called me to conduct the orchestra, it was recorded live, and the CD was the result," Diemecke told EFE.

In addition to his conducting duties with the Flint Symphony Orchestra, Diemecke is also Artistic Director of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra in the Teatro Colón and the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, in Long Beach California. He is also a full professor in the Graduate School of Music of the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City.