Ellen Taaffe Zwilich is an American composer,the first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Her early works are marked by atonal exploration,but by the late 1980s,she had shifted to a postmodernist,neoromantic style. She has been called "one of America's most frequently played and genuinely popular living composers." She was a 1994 inductee into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. Zwilich has served as the Francis Eppes Distinguished Professor at Florida State University.
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch was an American composer and conductor. Hamlisch was one of only 18 people to win Emmy,Grammy,Oscar and Tony awards,a feat dubbed the "EGOT". He and composer Richard Rodgers are the only people to have won those prizes and a Pulitzer Prize ("PEGOT").
Sarah Chang is a Korean American classical violinist. Recognized as a child prodigy,she first played as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1989. She enrolled at Juilliard School to study music,graduated in 1999,and continued university studies. Especially during the 1990s and early to mid-2000s,Chang had major roles as a soloist with many of the world's major orchestras.
Kathleen Deanna Battle is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth,Ohio,Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s,until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994. She later has focused on recording and the concert stage. After a 22-year absence from the Met,Battle performed a concert of spirituals at the Metropolitan Opera House in November 2016.
Jessye Mae Norman was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles,but did not limit herself to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic,concert and recital stages,Norman was associated with roles including Beethoven's Leonore,Wagner's Sieglinde and Kundry,Cassandre and Didon by Berlioz and Bartók's Judith. The New York Times music critic Edward Rothstein described her voice as a "grand mansion of sound",and wrote that "it has enormous dimensions,reaching backward and upward. It opens onto unexpected vistas. It contains sunlit rooms,narrow passageways,cavernous halls."
Anne-Sophie Mutter is a German violinist. Born and raised in Rheinfelden,Baden-Württemberg,Mutter started playing the violin at age five and continued studies in Germany and Switzerland. She was supported early in her career by Herbert von Karajan and made her orchestral debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1977. Since Mutter gained prominence in the 1970s and 1980s,she has recorded over 50 albums and performed as a soloist with leading orchestras worldwide and as a recitalist. Her primary instrument is the Lord Dunn–Raven Stradivarius violin.
Ethel Stark,was a Canadian violinist and conductor.
David Lockington,is the Music Director Laureate of the Grand Rapids Symphony located in Grand Rapids,Michigan,U.S. Lockington became the 13th music director of the Grand Rapids Symphony in January 1999 and stepped down from the post in May 2015 at the end of his 16th season with the orchestra. Prior to his tenure in Grand Rapids,Lockington served as the music director for the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra (1996–2000) and the Long Island Philharmonic (1995–2000). In May 2007,Lockington was named music director of the Modesto Symphony Orchestra in Modesto,California. Since March 2013,Lockington has been the music director of the Pasadena Symphony in Pasadena,California.
David Eric Robertson is an American conductor. He was chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra,and was formerly music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2005 until 2018. He is Director of Orchestral Studies at Juilliard.
The American Symphony Orchestra is a New York-based American orchestra founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski whose mission is to demystify orchestral music and make it accessible and affordable for all audiences. Leon Botstein is the orchestra's music director and principal conductor. They perform regularly at Carnegie Hall and Symphony Space in New York City.
Tom Price is an Australian and American songwriter,conductor,and musical director best known for his work in choral and orchestral music.
Diane Wittry is an American musical conductor and composer. Since 1995,she has served as the music director and conductor of the Allentown Symphony Orchestra in Allentown,Pennsylvania,and,since 2018,she has been the music director and conductor of the Garden State Philharmonic (GSP) in Toms River,New Jersey.
Apo Hsu or Hsu Ching-hsin is a conductor born in Taiwan and resident of both Taiwan and the United States. Hsu served as music director of the National Taiwan Normal University Symphony Orchestra and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Springfield,Missouri. Her past appointments include serving as artistic director of The Women's Philharmonic in San Francisco,California,and conductor of the Oregon Mozart Players in Eugene,Oregon. She has been a mentor for many young conductors on both sides of the world through her work at NTNU and at The Conductor's Institute at Bard College in New York. Her performances have been featured in national broadcasts in the United States,Taiwan,and Korea.
Mark Grey is an American classical music composer,sound designer and sound engineer.
Soon Hee Newbold is an American composer,conductor,musician,and actress.
Jorge Mester is a Mexican conductor of Hungarian ancestry. He has served as the artistic director for the Orquesta Filarmónica de Boca del Río,Veracruz,since it was founded in 2014.
Yuja Wang is a Chinese classical pianist. She was born in Beijing,began studying piano there at age six,and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. By the age of 21,she was already an internationally recognized concert pianist,giving recitals around the world. She has a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Wang tours internationally,and has received critical praise for her performances. Yuja Wang lives in New York City.
The Pasadena Symphony and POPS is an American orchestra based in Pasadena,California. In 2010 it took up residence at the Ambassador Auditorium,where its Classics Series runs from October through April. Since 2012 it performs a summer series at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden from June through September.
Sarah Hatsuko Hicks is a Japanese-born American orchestral conductor. Since 2009,she has been the Principal Conductor of Live at Orchestra Hall for the Minnesota Orchestra,and also serves as Staff Conductor at the Curtis Institute of Music.
Everett Astor Lee was an American symphonic conductor,opera music director,violinist and music scholar. He was the first African American to conduct a Broadway musical,the first to "conduct an established symphony orchestra below the Mason–Dixon line",and the first to conduct a performance by a major American opera company.
