Career Highlights
Courtesy of Mobile Press-Register
- Multiple gala performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Midori, Evelyn Glennie and Olga Kern
- Named Principal Conductor of the Joffrey Ballet
- Appearances at the White House as Music Director of the Washington Ballet
- Conducted at London’s Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, Washington’s Kennedy Center, San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, and the Los Angeles Music Center
- Recent concerts with the Moscow RTV Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky Hall garnered unanimous praise
- Led numerous performances with the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Houston, Paris, Moscow, Shanghai, Beijing, Chicago (Sinfonietta), Vancouver, Romania, Slovakia, Buffalo, Columbus (OH), Honolulu, Louisville, New Orleans, Oregon, Rochester, Florida, and Virginia
- Currently Music Director of Mobile Symphony (AL), West Michigan Symphony, and Washington Ballet (DC)
- Principal Guest Conductor of the China Film Philharmonic in Beijing
- Previously Conductor of the San Francisco Ballet
- Previously Music Advisor and Conductor of the Honolulu Symphony
- Previously Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Opera
- Co-author of three of the world’s best-selling books on classical music for a popular audience, Classical Music for Dummies, Opera for Dummies, and Ballet for Dummies
- Books translated into twenty languages and available around the world
- Commentator for National Public Radio, the BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Voice of Russia, broadcast throughout the world
- Writings featured in numerous magazines and journals
- Yale University Bachelor’s Degree in music, summa cum laude; awarded multiple prizes
- Founded and directed the Berkeley Chamber Orchestra
- Fulbright Scholar in Berlin
- Founded Concerto Grosso Berlin
- Master’s Degree in Conducting with Highest Honors from the University of Southern California; awarded multiple prizes
- Served as a Conducting Fellow at the Aspen School of Music
- Studied at the Tanglewood Music Center
- Fluent in English, German and French; diplomas in Italian and Spanish; reading knowledge of Russian.