Alabama All State Orchestra Festival February 7-10, 2013 University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa All-State Clinicians
Festival - Steven Byess The extraordinarily varied career of Steven Byess takes him not only to the stages of symphony orchestras and opera companies, but also to the stages and genres of Broadway, jazz and television. He is a dynamic conductor and has been
hailed by critics as "masterful and brilliant," "creating the epitome of instrumental elegance" and "a talented interpreter, able to capture the sweep of a piece without neglecting detail."
He is the Music Director of the Tupelo Symphony Orchestra, the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, the Colorado Youth Symphony Orchestras, Guest Conductor for the Ohio Light Opera, and he was formerly the Cover Conductor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and on the conducting staff at the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel. Mr. Byess received his Bachelor of Music Degree in classical performance and jazz studies from Georgia State University, and his Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied conducting with Louis Lane and Carl Topilow, bassoon with George Goslee and David McGill, violin with Carol Ruzicka, and piano with Olga Radosavljevich. He also attended the Pierre Monteux Memorial School for Conductors under the tutelage of Maître Charles Bruck. In addition to his conducting studies with Louis Lane, Robert Shaw, and Carl Topilow, he has worked under the auspices of the American Symphony Orchestra League with such noted conductors as Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, and Otto Werner Mueller. Mr. Byess was an assistant to conductor Robert Shaw at the Shaw Institute in Souilliac, France.
Steven Byess is a passionate advocate for the arts, much sought after for his speeches on the arts, music, music education and general education. An important community leader, he has created and organized frequent and annual collaborations with numerous choruses, chamber music ensembles, and festivals of the arts. He also wrote, co-directed and is featured in a PBS presentation entitled Count On It!, which is designed for children grades K-3, and shows the correlation of music to mathematics.
Mr. Byess was chosen by Walt Disney World Entertainment to conduct the 2000 NFL E*TRADE Superbowl Halftime show. The production had over 400 performers, including the Walt Disney World Millennium Orchestra, and international artists Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton, and Edward James Olmos, and was broadcast to over 900 million viewers worldwide. Byess is also
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currently featured in a commercial video taping for the Starz and Encore movie channels, airing internationally. Guest conducting for 2010-2011 include the Anaheim Symphony Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lamont Symphony Orchestra, a return to China to lead the Guangxi Symphony Orchestra (Nanning, China), a sixth U.S. tour with the Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra from Krakow, Poland, a multi-national performance of Handel’s Messiah in Branson, Missouri, and opera productions of Carmen (Bizet), Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck), Amahl and the Night Visitors (Menotti), Evening Wind (Offenbach), The Fortune Teller (Herbert), Jubilee (Cole Porter), Cox and Box (Sullivan), Trial By Jury (Sullivan), and El Capitan (Sousa). Steven is an ardent wine aficionado, a passionate Shakespeare enthusiast, an avid motorcycle rider, and loves skiing
Sinfonia - Brandon Keith Brown Brandon Keith Brown is quickly gaining national and international attention as an accomplished young conductor. As winner of the 2011
Ansbacher
Fellowship, he was selected by members of the Vienna Philharmonic to be in residence at The Salzburg Festival, where
he conducted members of the Vienna
Philharmonic in the Musikcamps program for children. In February 2012, Mr. Brown made his New York City debut at the invitation of Kurt Masur at the Manhattan School of Music.
Chosen by Lorin Maazel as his apprentice, Mr. Brown performed at The 2010 Castleton Festival in Virginia. In 2009, he performed in the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen with David Zinman. Solely representing the United States, he competed in Zagreb as 1 of 16 semi- finalist in the Lovro Matacic International Competition, chosen from 163 applicants from 43 countries. Recently, he was invited to conduct a rehearsal for The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in London.
In May 2012, Mr. Brown will compete in the Malko International Conducting Competition in Copenhaagen. Prestigious workshops and schools attended include The Pierre Monteux School, The Conductor’s Institute, The Omaha Symphony Conductor's Symposium and the Conductor’s Guild. Prominent conductors he has worked with include: James Depreist, Leonid Korchmar, Thomas Wilkins, Marin Alsop, Kurt Masur, and Gustav Meier.
Active as a guest conductor, he has conducted the Croatian National Radio and
Television August/September 2012
Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony, the Waterloo- Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, Macon Sinfonia, the Astoria Symphony, the Manhattan School of Music Orchestra, the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, the Yakima Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and various youth, collegiate, and all-state orchestras. Versatile in opera, Mr. Brown has been music director for Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, assistant for Britten’s Albert Herring and studied Puccini’s Il Trittico with Lorin Maazel. Previously, he was cover conductor for the Baltimore Symphony, Assistant Conductor at the Peabody, and assistant conductor/fellow of The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Brown holds a Master’s in Conducting from the Peabody Institute where he was winner of the Peabody Career Grant under Gustav Meier. Initially trained as a violinist, Mr. Brown graduated from high school at the North Carolina School of the Arts. He continued at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University, receiving a Bachelor’s in Performance under Roland and Almita Vamos. He is currently Associate Conductor of the Omaha Area Youth Orchestras and Guest Conductor for the Omaha Symphony’s Mission Imagination series.
Consort - David Eccles David F. Eccles is a native of Norfolk, Virginia and the son of a music educator. Since 1991, David has held string education positions in Virginia, Florida, and Illinois. Mr. Eccles is currently Director of String Music Education and Director of Orchestral
Activities at
VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois. An active conductor, cellist, and clinician, Mr. Eccles has been the music director and conductor of numerous youth orchestras including the Tallahassee Symphony Youth Orchestra, Southwest Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra, Greater Miami Youth Symphony, Jubilate Youth Orchestra, and Brevard (FL) Symphony Youth Orchestra. Mr. Eccles has also conducted many state, county, and regional honors orchestras.
Mr. Eccles is currently completing his doctoral studies at Florida State University. He holds a Master’s Degree in Music Education from the University of Miami (Florida) and Bachelor of Music and Media from Norfolk State University. His principal teachers include Elizabeth Eccles, Laurien Laufman, Ross Harbaugh, and Dr. Michael Allen. He is an active member of ASTA, MENC, and NASPAAM.
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