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Cristian Macelaru (2012)

Cristian Macelaru has established an exciting and highly regarded presence through his thoughtful interpretations, poise and energetic conviction on the podium. He began his work with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the 2010-11 season and, with the orchestra’s vote in September 2011, was named Assistant Conductor, effective 2011-12. In February 2012, Mr. Macelaru made his Chicago Symphony subscription debut as a replacement for Pierre Boulez with overwhelming success and rave reviews.

For more information: www.macelaru.com/.

ROBERT TREVINO (2012)

Since his professional debut in 2003 at the age of 20, Robert Treviño has become an emerging force on the international music scene and is currently the Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony. He has conducted numerous orchestras across North America, Europe, and Asia including the Cleveland Orchestra, New York City Opera Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, New World Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Chicago Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Napa Valley Symphony, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, Suwon Philharmonic of South Korea, Wuppertal Symphony of Germany, Montpellier National Orchestra of France and Universidad Nacional Autonoma De Mexico Philharmonic of Mexico.

For more information: www.roberttrevino.org/.

YANIV ATTAR (2012)

A native of Israel, Yaniv Attar is the 1st prize winner of the Duna Szimfonikus Conducting Competition Budapest and the 2009 Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Award in New York. Attar recently completed his two years residency as the Assistant Conductor of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, where he conducted nearly 100 performances and worked extensively with Maestro Justin Brown.

For more information: www.yanivattar.com/.

NICHOLAS HERSH (2012)

Nicholas Hersh is currently pursuing a Doctoral degree in conducting at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music under David Effron and Arthur Fagen. In April 2011 Hersh was chosen as one of twenty young conductors from around the world to attend the first Bernard Haitink International Conducting Masterclass as part of the Lucerne Music Festival in Switzerland, and in May 2012 he competed and advanced in the Malko International Conducting Competition in Copenhagen. In the summer of 2011 Hersh was awarded a fellowship to study at the prestigious American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado; he was invited to return for the summer of 2012.

For more information: www.nicholashersh.com/.

VLADIMIR KULENOVIC (2012)

As Associate Conductor of Utah Symphony/Utah Opera, Vladimir Kulenovic conducts over one hundred performances annually, and maintains an international guest conducting schedule that included collaborations with acclaimed soloists Leon Fleisher and Mischa Maisky, among others. This season in Europe, Kulenovic returned to Belgrade Philharmonic for two subscription performances, made his Slovenian Philharmonic debut, and is re-engaged by both orchestras in the next season alongside his Zagreb Philharmonic debut in 2013. After his debut in Asia as the Principal Conductor of the Kyoto Music Festival, he was engaged for two subscription concerts at the National Concert Hall in Taipei with the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, which were met with critical acclaim. In addition, he had the honor leading four orchestra rehearsals as conducting assistant to Zubin Mehta at the at the 2011 Dubrovnik Music Festival.

For more information: www.vladimirkulenovic.com/.

FRANCESCO LECCE-CHONG (2012)

American conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong, active with both the orchestral and opera repertory on the international stage, currently serves as Assistant Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. In addition to working closely with renowned Music Director Edo de Waart, Mr. Lecce-Chong provides artistic leadership for the orchestra’s extensive community and education programs. In his first season with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in 2011-2012, he conducted over forty performances, including an acclaimed mainstage debut with pianist Joyce Yang. In the 2012-2013 season, he makes his MSO subscription debut with violinist Augustin Hadelich and leads a gala performance with Itzhak Perlman.

For more information: www.lecce-chong.com/.

JOSHUA WEILERSTEIN (2012)

Immediately after completing his graduate studies in conducting and violin at the New England Conservatory in May 2011, Joshua Weilerstein was named assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. In May 2009, Mr Weilerstein, then twenty-one years old, was named the winner of the international 2009 Malko Competition for Young Conductors in Copenhagen. His first-prize honors included conducting engagements over three years with such major Scandinavian orchestras as the Oslo Philharmonic, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, and the Danish National Symphony, among others. One month later, in the first of this series of Malko engagements, Joshua made his professional conducting debut with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

For more information: www.opus3artists.com/artists/joshua-weilerstein.

CASE SCAGLIONE (2011)

Case Scaglione began his tenure as Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic in September, 2011. For three years he served as music director of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra of Los Angeles where he followed in the footsteps of such renowned conductors as Michael Tilson-Thomas, Lawrence Foster, and Myung-Whun Chung. He was also chosen as one of three conducting fellows to attend the 2011 Tanglewood Music Center. A former student of David Zinman at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen for three summers, he won the James Conlon Prize and, in 2010, the esteemed Aspen Conducting Prize. As a result he made his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in July of 2010.

For more information: www.casescaglione.com/.

ANKUSH KUMAR BAHL (2011)

Described as an "energetic" conductor who leads with "clear authority and enthusiasm" by the New York Times after his Carnegie Hall debut, Indian American conductor Ankush Kumar Bahl is currently an Assistant Conductor with the Orchestre National de France and will additionally begin his post as the Assistant Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C) this fall. Mr Bahl is also the proud recipient of the 2009 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Scholarship (given in Leipzig, Germany). This prestigious award enabled him to spend time in Germany working privately with Maestros Kurt Masur and Riccardo Chailly along with the Gewandhaus Orchestra as the city of Leipzig celebrated the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth.

For more information: www.boleroartists.com/akb_b.htm.

SEAN NEWHOUSE (2011)

Sean Newhouse made an acclaimed last-minute debut with the Boston Symphony in February 2011, conducting Mahler's Ninth Symphony on two hours' notice in place of James Levine. The Boston Globe wrote that "The BSO often played beautifully for him, the strings digging in deeply in the final movement to produce a glowing and expressive tone." No stranger to eleventh-hour substitutions, he also stepped in for Mario Venzago on short notice to open the Indianapolis Symphony season in 2008, to rave reviews commending his "expert" conducting and hailing the performances as "electrifying." He is the first American-born conductor in fifteen years to be appointed Assistant Conductor to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he assumed in 2010 at the invitation of James Levine.

For more information: www.seannewhouse.com.

WARD STARE (2011)

Described as "a compelling figure on the podium" and "one of the hottest young conductors in America" by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Ward Stare is currently the Resident Conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony, a position created for him in the fall of 2008 by Music Director David Robertson. In April 2009, Stare made his highly successful Carnegie Hall debut with the orchestra, stepping in at the last minute to conduct while Robertson made his debut as chansonnier in H.K. Gruber's Frankenstein!!. In addition to his duties with the St. Louis Symphony, Stare is the Music Director of the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and, in June 2010, led the group in its New York City debut at the historic Riverside Church. The New York Times praised the orchestra for their "terrific concert," noting that "Mr. Stare inspired the musicians to impressive heights."

For more information: www.wardstare.com.

RYAN McADAMS (2010)

Ryan McAdams is the 15th Music Director of the New York Youth Symphony (NYYS), a Fulbright scholar and former Apprentice Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic under the tutelage of then-Chief Conductor (now Music Director of the New York Philharmonic) Alan Gilbert. Upcoming engagements include appearances with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, New York City Opera, New York City Ballet, Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, the Louisville Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and CityMusic Cleveland, in addition to his three Carnegie Hall performances with the NYYS.

For more information: www.ryan-mcadams.com/.

YANIV ATTAR (2010)

For more information: www.yanivattar.com/.

KAZEM ABDULLAH (2010)

Kazem Abdullah has become one of the most watched young American conductors on the scene today, and, in August of 2012, will become Generalmusikdirector of the city of Aachen, Germany. His predecessors in this tradition-rich post include Fritz Busch, Herbert von Karajan, and Wolfgang Sawallisch. This season, he appeared with the Michigan Opera Theater, Sinfonieorchester Aachen and the Rochester Philharmonic. He will also appear with the Nuremburg Philharmonic and River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, and return to Indianapolis for a reengagement with Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

For more information: www.kazemabdullah.com/.

CHRISTOPHER HILL (2010)

In 2012, Christopher Hill was selected amongst a pool of more than 500 applicants to participate in the Nikolai Malko competition in Copenhagen, Denmark. He recently concluded a two-year tenure as the music director and conductor of the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra and also served as the director of orchestras at the University of New Hampshire. In November, 2010, Mr. Hill was one of two American-born and resident participants of the Dmitri Mitropoulos International Conducting Competition in Athens, Greece. He was also a finalist in the Cadaqués International Conducting Competition near Barcelona, Spain in June of the same year.

For more information: www.christopherhillconductor.com.

ROBERT TREVINO (2010)

Honored in 2010 with a Career Assistance Award, Robert Trevino received The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Development Award in 2012.

For more information: www.roberttrevino.org/.

ERIK NIELSEN (2009)

Erik Nielsen took up the position of Kapellmeister of the Frankfurt Opera from the beginning of the 2008/9 season. He studied as a double-major in oboe and harp at the Juilliard School New York, before studying conducting at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Prior to moving to Frankfurt he played harp in the Berlin Philharmonic as a member of its Orchester-Akademie. In December 2010 Erik Nielsen made his Met debut in New York with The Magic Flute and his Dresden debut at the Semper Oper with Henze’s new stage work Gisela.

For more information: www.ingpen.co.uk/artist_detail.php?aid=112.

JAMES FEDDECK (2009)

Currently in his third season as Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra, James Feddeck made his debut with the orchestra in August 2009 at the Blossom Music Festival. In March 2011, he appeared for the first time on the orchestra’s subscription series in Severance Hall, replacing Music Director Franz Welser-Möst at the last minute in the Zurich Opera’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. He has led a number of new initiatives with the orchestra, most recently "Italian Masterworks," a concert series and innovative collaboration between The Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Museum of Art that explores the connections between music and visual art.

For more information: www.opus3artists.com/artists/james-feddeck.

KELLY KUO (2009)

Kelly Kuo’s recent conducting engagements include debuts at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Kentucky Opera, Madison Opera, Lexington Philharmonic, Anchorage Opera and Orchestra Nova San Diego. Mr. Kuo was also recently named Artistic Director of the Oregon Mozart Players and Music Director and Conductor of the Butler Opera Center at The University of Texas at Austin. In the past he served as Music Director of the Xavier University Chamber Orchestra and, for three years, Assistant Conductor of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.

For more information: kellykuo.com.

CASE SCAGLIONE (2009)

Honored in 2009 with a Career Assistance Award, Case Scaglione received The Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award in 2011.

For more information: www.casescaglione.com.

JOSEPH F. YOUNG (2008)

Joseph Young was recently named the Resident Conductor with The Phoenix Symphony after serving as the Assistant Conductor for the 2010-2011 season. In the spring of 2012 he will make his subscription debut. Increasingly regarded as one of America s rising young conductors, Joseph was featured in the 2011 League of American Orchestras' prestigious Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, hosted by the Louisiana Philharmonic.

For more information: www.josephfyoung.com.

ANTHONY BARRESE (2007)

Currently Mr. Barrese works as a freelance composer and conductor. He has led several productions with Sarasota Opera (Lakmé, Le nozze di Figaro, Hansel and Gretel), and with Opera Southwest (Le nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, La cenerentola) where he is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. He was the Assistant Conductor of the Dallas Opera in 2006-2007 and returned there as Guest Conductor for a production of Tosca in 2008.

For more information: www.anthonybarrese.com.

ERIC MELEAR (2006)

Eric Melear returns to Houston Grand Opera in 2012 as Associate Music Director and Music Director of the Studio after a year on the music staff of the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera), where he assisted on fourteen productions and conducted two children’ s operas. Previously, he was Associate Conductor/Assistant Chorusmaster with Houston Grand Opera and served as Head of Music Staff and Studio Manager at Wolf Trap Opera.

For more information: www.ericmelear.com.

Sara Jobin (2006)

Grammy-nominated conductor Sara Jobin has a passion for opera, American, and new music. She has conducted the San Francisco Opera in performances of Tosca, Der fliegende Holländer, Norma, and the world premiere of Philip Glass’ Appomattox; she also led them in a production of Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince. As Music Director of the Center for Contemporary Opera, she premiered Michael Dellaira’s The Secret Agent in New York, and within a year reprised it in New York, at the Armel Opera Festival in Hungary, and in Avignon, France.

For more information: www.hughkaylor.com/Jobin-Sara-Bio.html.

Carlos César Rodríguez (2005)

Carlos César Rodríguez has gained recognition as a virtuoso pianist who not only generates unusual excitement in the Hispanic keyboard repertoire (in recordings on the Omicron, Brioso labels) but also displays an extraordinary flair for Mozart and avant-garde scores. An expert on early instruments as well, enjoying entrée to the Smithsonian Institution’s rare collection, he was chosen by the Smithsonian to perform in its 150th anniversary concert in Washington, DC as well as a solo recital celebrating the 300th anniversary of the piano as part of the museum’s Piano300 exhibit. He has won acclaim moreover, as a music director of Mozart operas and a composer/improviser of ballet and Spanish dance scores. Mr. Rodríguez made his New York debut at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall at age 21, and has since has performed in such major venues as the Kennedy Center, The Corcoran Gallery, Merkin Hall, and the Royal Palace of Music in Salzburg, Austria.

For more information: www.nationalchamberensemble.org/musicians.php?group=1&person=17.

Thomas Rimes (2004)

Thomas Rimes is an Australian musician currently based in Germany. In recent years he has worked throughout Europe, the United States and Australia in the field of opera as a coach, conductor and composer. He lives in Kassel, Germany, and works at the Staatstheater Kassel as a conductor and pianist. Thomas recently finished composing his first full-length opera The Long Ride Home, based on a story and libretto he had written himself. He is currently writing his second opera, titled "O.T.O."

For more information: www.tomrimes.com.

Quinn Kelsey (2003)

Quinn Kelsey (baritone) is an alumnus of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center (formerly the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists). Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i, Kelsey received his Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa under John W. Mount. In 2012, the baritone makes a much-anticipated company debut with Dresden’s Semperoper alongside wife and soprano Marjorie Owens in the role of Count Di Luna in Verdi s Il Trovatore. He then continues with Verdi’s AÏDA with the Hawaii Opera Theatre, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Vancouver Opera in British Columbia, as well as a role debut with the San Francisco Opera as Ezio in Verdi’s Attila.

For more information: www.quinnkelsey.com

Stacey Tappan (2003)

Stacey Tappan continues to distinguish herself as a world-class musical artist. In stellar reviews for her "witty and sexy" Adele in Die Fledermaus with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, she was praised for the production’s "most polished singing... her coloratura bright and well-focused." In 2008 she made her French debut with Opéra de Lille as Gilda in Rigoletto, which she reprised with the Opéra de Dijon in 2010. Other recent engagements include Adina in L'elisir d'amore and Despina in Così fan tutte with the Jacksonville Symphony, Woglinde and the Woodbird in the Ring Cycle with Los Angeles Opera, and a return to Lyric Opera of Chicago for multiple roles in Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten, covering Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare and the title role in Lulu, and singing the role of Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff.

For more information: www.staceytappan.com

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