MONTREAL - Most people would be daunted by the idea of having jobs in three different cities.

Not musical phenomenon Yannick Nezet-Seguin, who will now rack up scores of frequent-flyer miles commuting between Philadelphia, Montreal and Rotterdam.

Nezet-Seguin was confirmed Monday as the musical director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, adding to his duties as principal conductor of Montreal's Orchestre metropolitaine and music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic.

"I think musicians' lives are busy to begin with," Nezet-Seguin said in an interview with The Canadian Press during a recent visit to Montreal, pointing to his colleagues at the Orchestre metropolitaine as an example.

"If they're not at the metropolitaine, they teach, or they do chamber music or they travel to another orchestra."

His life probably seems extraordinarily hectic because it's under such a spotlight, he suggested.

And Nezet-Seguin, 35, has been under a spotlight, seeming to draw rave reviews every time he picks up a baton.

He'll debut in his new post in Philadelphia on Friday, adding to the long list of cities where he's wowed audiences with his energetic style.

His journey to some of the world's top podiums started when he was a young pianist and sang in church choirs.

"I saw choral conductors and it fascinated me," he recalled, saying his pursuit of conducting soon felt more like a "religious call."

The boyish, genial Nezet-Seguin has developed an energetic style of conducting that the Boston Globe described as "viscerally exciting" when he led the Boston Symphony.

He admits he's not aware of his gesturing to the musicians.

"I'm conducting the way I think I feel the music and when I look at myself afterward -- which I hate, of course, like every conductor -- I see this as very energetic. I feel so very physically involved when I'm conducting.

"It's just the way I am and maybe the way I'm built because I'm not very imposing and tall and big," he adds with a laugh.

Nevertheless, he casts a big shadow in the classical music world for someone so young.

In Canada, he is also regular guest conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and has led every one of the country's major orchestras, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and those in Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver.

He made his European debut in 2004 and has conducted many of Europe's main orchestras. He is principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Philadelphia Orchestra CEO Allison Vulgamore called him "a great musician and human being."

"In my many visits with Yannick, I have witnessed the warm fellowship he shares with musician colleagues and audiences around the world," she said.

"His exceptional artistry and strong connection with our musicians combines in rich and impactful performances and his contagious love of music endears him to our audiences."

Nezet-Seguin, who has a seven-year contract with Philadelphia, said he "fell in love with music when I heard the Philadelphia Orchestra as a young boy, on a recording of Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony with Eugene Ormandy."

He says he felt an instant connection with the musicians there.

"I so look forward to our opportunities to make music together."

Interestingly, Nezet-Seguin will be following former Montreal Symphony Orchestra conductor Charles Dutoit, who also influenced him in his early years, to Philadelphia.

Dutoit was named chief conductor in Philadelphia in 2008 and will continue in that position through 2012.

Despite his globe-trotting, Nezet-Seguin still calls Montreal home and there's no sign he plans to give up on his 10-year relationship with the Orchestre metropolitaine.

He says the great music he makes with them helps ground him so he can fly off and work with other major orchestras in the world.

"It is still a very special relationship," he said.