It is with great pleasure that we announce Carl St.Clair, Music Director of the Pacific Symphony and conductor of USC Thornton School of Music orchestras, will conduct week two of the Sewanee Symphony season. St.Clair brings a wealth of experience, a legacy of creative programming, and an inspirational personality to the podium.
Watch his Ted Talk here! Apply here to join Maestro St.Clair at Sewanee!
Music Director of the Pacific Symphony for more than two decades, Carl St. Clair has become widely recognized for his musically distinguished performances, innovative approaches to programming, and commitment to outstanding educational programs. The largest ensemble formed in the United States during the last forty years, Pacific’s rapid artistic development is due largely to Mr. St. Clair’s leadership. During the orchestra’s first European tour several years ago, they consistently played to packed houses and received rave reviews.
Also an active guest conductor, Carl St. Clair has led the Boston Symphony (where he served as assistant conductor for several years), Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the symphonies of Atlanta, Detroit, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Montreal, Nashville, San Francisco, Sarasota, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver, to name a few. Worldwide, he has guest conducted numerous orchestras in Europe, South America, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Japan. Summer festival appearances include Schleswig-Holstein, Pacific (Japan), Round Top, Breckenridge, Wintergreen (NC), Texas Music Festival/ Houston and Tanglewood.
Largely influenced by his close association with Leonard Bernstein, Mr. St. Clair’s commitment to the development and performance of new works by American composers is evident in the wealth of commissions and recordings by Pacific Symphony. Under his guidance, the orchestra has commissioned works such as Philip Glass’s The Passion of Ramakrishna, William Bolcom’s song cycle, Canciones de Lorca (premiered by Placido Domingo), and Chen Yi’s cello concerto Ballad, Dance and Fantasy composed for cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Many have been subsequently recorded, including Richard Danielpour’s An American Requiem on Reference Recordings and Elliot Goldenthal’s Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio on Sony Classical with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Other recordings include the highly acclaimed CD of later works by Toru Takemitsu for Sony Classical and works by John Corigliano and Frank Ticheli for Koch Classics. Additional commissioned composers include Zhou Long, Tobias Picker and Christopher Theofandis.
Carl St. Clair has been general music director and chief conductor of the German National Theater and Staatskapelle (GNTS) in Weimar, Germany (the first non-European to hold this position), as well as general music director of the Komische Oper in Berlin and principal guest conductor of the SDR/Stuttgart, where he successfully completed a three–year recording project of the complete Villa–Lobos symphonies.
