Allentown Symphony Conducting Fellows Program
This is a new program established by the Allentown Symphony to offer opportunities for conductors to learn more about being a Music Director of a regional orchestra. The conductors selected for the program are experienced conductors who will each be assigned a concert in which they will be helping in a variety of ways. This would include listening for the balance of the orchestra in the hall, acting as a score-reader for our multi-media concerts, running super-titles for our semi-staged opera, and conducting off-stage instruments when needed. Each of the conductors will also have career mentoring sessions with the Allentown Symphony Music Director and Conductor, Diane Wittry, as well as the opportunity to attend any of the orchestra’s rehearsals throughout the season. Through this program, each of the Conducting Fellows will be able to meet with our professional staff in order to enhance their knowledge of the skills and expertise required to be an effective musical leader.
Michael Avagliano has served as music director of the Central Jersey Symphony since 2008. He has worked as a cover conductor for the Lafayette Symphony and the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland. Previously, Mr. Avagliano led the Manalapan Symphony as music director for four seasons. He has also appeared as guest conductor with the Plainfield Symphony and the Metropolitan Orchestra of New Jersey.
Under Mr. Avagliano’s leadership, the Central Jersey Symphony has drawn acclaim for a transformation in artistic achievement from audiences and critics alike. Recently, the orchestra was a runner-up for The American Prize, awarded each year for excellence in orchestral performance. The CJSO has also expanded its concert season, performing in new venues across New Jersey, and created an outreach program in partnership with regional assisted-living facilities.
Mr. Avagliano studied conducting under Wallace Hornibrook and Jan Harrington at Indiana University. He has also worked in seminars and workshops with Diane Wittry, Carl Topilow, Victor Yampolsky, and Jorge Mester.
Reuben Blundell conducts the orchestra at Hunter College, on New York’s Upper East Side, where his leadership has seen greater engagement with Hunter’s 20,000 students, collaborative festivals with museums, academic departments and foundations, and a composer-in-residence program. He is also principal conductor of the New York Chamber Virtuosi, an orchestra of young professional musicians.
Reuben received his Doctorate in Conducting from Eastman in January 2010, following studies with Neil Varon. He has conducted the Melbourne Symphony (Australia) and Naples Philharmonic (FL) in concert, as well as the orchestras of Rochester, Richmond, Omaha, Norwalk, Sydney, Hobart, Perth and the New World Symphony in professional development workshops. Having conducted many chamber operas, he made his staged opera debut in March 2011 with Mozart’s The Impresario. His dance collaborations include conducting for Tony Award-winner Garth Fagan, at Joyce Theater in Chelsea.
Reuben’s violin career included serving as concertmaster at the Tanglewood Music Center and the New World Symphony, where Michael Tilson Thomas encouraged his conducting and Reuben conducted Miami’s CGCC Young Musicians' Orchestra.
Stephen Czarkowski is in demand as a conductor, cellist and educator in the Washington D.C. area and nationally. He serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Apollo Chamber Orchestra and has collaborated with artists from the Metropolitan Opera and the Washington National Opera. In addition he was named Conductor of the Landon Symphonette and for the Fall semester Conductor of the University of Virginia Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra, where he will conduct two subscription concerts and youth concerts. He is also Assistant Conductor of the Opera Camerata of Washington DC, as well as its orchestra personnel manager and principal cellist. With Opera Camerata Mr. Czarkowski has most recently conducted performances of The Merry Widow and Rigoletto to great success at the Embassy of Austria and Romanian Ambassador’s residency.
He led The National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C. as a debut conductor, in conjunction with being selected for the 2003 National Conducting Institute, directed by Music Director Leonard Slatkin. Other guest conducting appearances include Honolulu Symphony, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra and the 2008 The Berlin Airlift Orchestra, in a special Veterans Day performance at St. Matthews Cathedral. This past January Mr. Czarkowski worked with Maestro Jorma Panula at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, followed by working with the Richmond Symphony.
Mr. Czarkowski is currently on the cello and conducting faculty of Landon School and Shepherd University in West Virginia. At Shepherd University he is Principal Cellist (Jim and Linda Walker Chair) of the 2 Rivers Chamber Orchestra and shares conducting duties with the Preparatory Orchestra. His students have won numerous local and statewide competitions, and hold principal chairs in area orchestras. During the summer he serves as Principal cellist of the Shippensburg Festival Orchestra and teaches at Shepherd University String Camp.
He graduated from The Catholic University of America in 2005 with a Graduate Artist Diploma in Orchestral Conducting, after receiving a full scholarship and teaching assistantship. In May 2002, Mr. Czarkowski graduated in the top percentile of his class from the Mannes College, The New School for Music with a Master of Music in cello (under Barbara Stein Mallow) and conducting (under David Hayes and Samuel Wong). Mr. Czarkowski received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1999 from the Mannes College, The New School for Music, under the tutelage of Carter Brey, principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic. He is an active member of the Conductor’s Guild, serving on the Board of Directors for a third term. In the Fall 2011 Mr. Czarkowski will join the New School Alumni Association Board of Directors. For more information please visit www.sczarkowski.com
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A charismatic and dynamic conductor, Edette Gagné has built a reputation for excellence in musical performance in her work.
Presently, the Canadian West Coast is her home, where she is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Coast Symphony Orchestra, Conductor of the WVYB String Ensemble and Sinfonia, the Associate Conductor of the British Columbia Boys Choir, and the Music Director for the North Shore Light Opera Society.
Her passion for music is fuelled by intense musicianship and attention to detail, and Edette’s performances reflect both careful adherence to performance practice and the high standards she sets for both herself and her ensembles. Her conducting experiences have now circumnavigated the globe, with shows conducted across Canada, Sydney Australia, Los Angeles and New York City. She is in great demand as a guest conductor, adjudicator, vocal coach and lyric soprano. A strong proponent of new and rarely performed works, Edette has conducted several World, North American and Canadian premières.
Edette holds a Master of Music degree in conducting from the University of Calgary, Bachelor degrees in arts and education from the University of Alberta, as well as Associate Performance Diplomas in piano and voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. She has studied conducting with Helmut Rilling, Toshi Shimada, Paula Holcombe, Allan McMurray, Frank Klassen, Diane Wittry, Kenneth Woods, David Hoose and Christopher Zimmerman.
David Long brings exceptional experience as a conductor of both Orchestral and Choral music. Currently, he is the Conductor of the Cadek Orchestra in Chattanooga, TN and the Music Director and Conductor of the Chattanooga Bach Choir and Orchestra, a position he has held since 2005. A passionate supporter of choral/orchestral music, David has led choir and orchestra in Requiem settings by Fauré, Duruflé‚ Michael Haydn and Brahms. Through his participation at the Oregon Bach Festival, guest conductor at the Rome, GA Bach Festival and in his work with the Chattanooga Bach Choir, Mr. Long has gained the reputation as a scholar and enthusiastic interpreter of the music of J. S. Bach. His programming has also emphasized the Classical symphonic mass and oratorio of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
A native of North Carolina, Mr. Long holds master’s degrees in orchestral conducting (University of TN at Chattanooga) and church music (Southern Theological Seminary). David has participated in the Beyond the Baton Workshop Seminar, the Conductors’ Institute of the University of South Carolina, the Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition, the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestra Musicians, and the Oregon Bach Festival. In 2001, he was selected to participate in the Symphonic Conducting Workshop and Competition at the Accademia dell’ Arte of Florence/Arezzo, where he was a prize winner and conducted the Accademia dell’ Arte Orchestra in the city of Florence, Italy.
David resides in Chattanooga with his wife, Karen, a television assistant news director, and their three children, Megan, Jacob and Cassidy. He enjoys bicycle riding with his family on the many trails and greenways along the Tennessee River and he enjoys introducing his children to the joys of listening and performing great music.
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