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Positions held

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  • Principal Conductor, Toledo Opera, OH, 2002 – 2015

  • Artistic Director & Conductor, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, 1983 – 2001 (Conductor Laureate, 2001 – )

  • Artistic Director, Snowshoe Music Festival, WV

  • Opera Conductor, Music From Bear Valley, CA

  • Music Director, Lone Star Ballet, TX

  • Music Director & Conductor, Amarillo Symphony Orchestra, TX

  • Artistic Director & Conductor, American Bicentennial Orchestra, NY

  • Music Director & Conductor, Queens Orchestral Society, NY

  • Assistant Professor of Music, Queens College, CUNY

  • Conductor, Goldovsky Opera Theatre (national tours)

  • Assistant Conductor, North Carolina Symphony Orchestra

  • Staff Conductor, Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting

  • Conductor, Baltimore Philharmonia, MD

  • Associate Conductor, National Ballet Society, DC

  • Vocal Coach/Rehearsal Pianist, Metropolitan Opera, NY

  • Artistic Director & Conductor, Chamber Opera Society of Baltimore, MD

  • Music Director, Johns Hopkins University Theatre, MD

  • Music Director, Center Stage Repertory Company, MD

  • Conductor, Maryland Youth Orchestra, MD

 

Opera Companies (partial listing)

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  • American Boychoir “Amahl and the Night Visitors” national tour, Music Director

  • American Opera/Music Theatre Company, NY, Guest Conductor

  • Theater Augsburg, Germany, Guest Conductor

  • Augusta Opera, GA, Guest Conductor

  • Chamber Opera Society of Baltimore, MD, Artistic Director & Conductor

  • Charleston Symphony Opera, WV, Artistic Director & Conductor

  • Croatian National Theater, Zagreb, Guest Conductor

  • Goldovsky Opera Theater national tours, Conductor

  • Hawaii Opera Theatre, Guest Conductor

  • Opera Idaho, Guest Conductor

  • Las Vegas Opera Theatre, NV, Guest Conductor

  • Metropolitan Opera, NY, Vocal Coach/Rehearsal Pianist

  • Motor City Lyric Opera, MI, Guest Conductor

  • Music From Bear Valley, CA, Music Director & Opera Conductor

  • National Grand Opera, NY, Guest Conductor

  • Teatro Massimo, Palermo, Italy, Guest Conductor

  • Sacramento Opera, Guest Conductor

  • Staten Island Civic Opera, NY, Guest Conductor

  • Syracuse Opera Company, NY, Guest Conductor

  • Toledo Opera, OH, Principal Conductor

  • Ulmer Theater, Germany, Guest Conductor

  • Opera Theater of Washington, DC, Music Director

  • West Virginia Symphony Opera, Artistic Director & Conductor

 

Symphony Orchestras (partial listing)

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  • Amarillo Symphony Orchestra, TX, Music Director & Conductor

  • American Symphony Orchestra, NY, Guest Conductor

  • Philharmonisches Orchester der Stadt Augsburg, Germany, Guest Conductor

  • Baden-Badener Philharmonie, Germany, Guest Conductor

  • Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, MD, Guest Conductor

  • Baltimore Philharmonia, MD, Conductor

  • Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, Guest Conductor

  • Buffalo Philharmonic, Guest Conductor

  • Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Egypt, Guest Conductor

  • Calgary Philharmonic, Canada, Guest Conductor

  • Charleston Symphony Orchestra, SC, Guest Conductor

  • Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, NC, Guest Conductor

  • Eastern Philharmonic Orchestra, NC, Guest Conductor

  • Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, VA, Guest Conductor

  • Flemish Chamber Orchestra, Belgium, Guest Conductor

  • Greater Palm Beach Symphony, FL, Guest Conductor

  • Izmir State Symphony Orchestra, Turkey, Guest Conductor

  • Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, TN, Guest Conductor

  • Monterey County Symphony, CA, Guest Conductor

  • Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan, Guest Conductor

  • Napa Valley Symphony Guest Conductor

  • New Philharmonic, Chicago, IL, Guest Conductor

  • North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, NY, Assistant Conductor

  • Orchestra da Camera, NY, Principal Guest Conductor

  • Orchester der Stadt Ulm, Germany, Guest Conductor

  • Orchestra of St. Luke’s, NY, Guest Conductor

  • Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Italy, Guest Conductor

  • Orquesta Sinfonica de Antioquia, Colombia, Guest Conductor

  • Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon, Spain, Guest Conductor

  • Presidential Symphony Orchestra of Turkey, Guest Conductor

  • Pusan Philharmonic, Korea, Guest Conductor

  • Queens Orchestral Society, NY, Music Director & Conductor

  • RTE Symphony Orchestra, Ireland, Guest Conductor

  • Rhode Island Philharmonic, Guest Conductor

  • Richmond Symphony Orchestra, VA, Guest Conductor

  • San Diego Chamber Orchestra, CA, Guest Conductor

  • Symfoniorkesteret i Stavanger, Norway, Guest Conductor

  • Symphony Silicon Valley, CA, Guest Conductor

  • Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, NY, Guest Conductor

  • Tokyo Chamber Orchestra, Japan, Guest Conductor

  • Tucson Symphony Orchestra, AZ, Guest Conductor

  • Virginia Chamber Orchestra, Guest Conductor

  • Virginia Philharmonic, Guest Conductor

  • Volgograd Symphony Orchestra, Russia, Guest Conductor

  • Warsaw Philharmonic, Poland, conductor for recordings

  • West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director & Conductor

  • Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, PA, Guest Conductor

 

Music Festivals & Ballet (partial listing)

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  • BalletMet, OH, Guest Conductor

  • Ballet South, AL, Guest Conductor

  • Center Stage Repertory Theater (Musicals), MD, Music Director

  • Charleston Ballet Theater, SC, Guest Conductor

  • Chicago Festival Ballet, IL, Guest Conductor

  • Eastern Music Festival, NC, Guest Conductor

  • Festival at Hakone, Japan, Guest Conductor

  • Johns Hopkins University Theater, MD, Music Director

  • Lone Star Ballet, TX, Music Director

  • Music in the Vineyards, Guest Conductor

  • Music From Bear Valley, CA, Opera Conductor

  • National Ballet Society, DC, Associate Conductor

  • Shenandoah Music Festival, VA, Guest Conductor

  • Snowshoe Music Festival, WV, Artistic Director

 

Education & Advanced Studies

 

Master of Music degree, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Johns Hopkins University. Major in Composition

 

Bachelor of Music degree, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Johns Hopkins University. Majors in Conducting, Piano, Composition

 

Conducting Fellow, Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood)

 

Institute of Orchestral Studies, American Symphony Orchestra League

 

Pierre Monteux School of Conducting and Orchestral Performance

 

Goldovsky Opera Institute

 

Principal teachers: Conducting – Leonard Bernstein, Sir Adrian Boult, Charles Bruck, Boris Goldovsky, Laszlo Halasz, Erich Leinsdorf, Richard Lert, Pierre Monteux, Seiji Ozawa; Composition – Ernst Krenek, Benjamin Lees, Lester Trimble, Sandor Veress; Piano – Walter Hautzig; Organ – Adolph Torofsky; Violin – Paul Turchowitz.

 

Grants & Other Recognition

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Grammy Award for Best Recording of a Contemporary Classical Composition – George Crumb: Star-Child, The Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Chorus, soloists

 

Indie Award nomination for Best Orchestral Recording – George Crumb: A Haunted Landscape, The Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra

 

Gold Award (First Prize) at WorldFest Houston Film Festival in the category Music Video-Concert Performance for Symphonic Wonderworks

 

Telly Award nomination for Video: Symphonic Wonderworks

 

Zaidee Thomas Composition Prize, for String Quartet No. 1

 

Bach-Horstmeier Award, for performance of works by J.S. Bach

 

Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music, grant to fund preparation of a performing edition of W.A. Mozart’s opera Lucio Silla. Published by Theodore Presser Co.

 

Maryland Arts Council grant to produce touring production of contemporary operas

 

Full Scholarship, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Johns Hopkins University

 

Tri-State Theater Association Award for original music-theater piece, Boardwalk

 

Artist of the Year, Mayor’s Awards in the Arts, Charleston WV

 

Outstanding Performing Artist, Governor’s Awards for Culture, History & the Arts  

 

Voting Member, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

 

Member, National Society of Arts and Letters

 

Doctor of Music (Honorary degree), University of Charleston

 

Doctor of Humane Letters (Honorary degree), West Virginia Wesleyan College

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