THOMAS CONLIN

THOMAS CONLIN's performances in America and abroad have generated great enthusiasm. The New York Times calls his leadership "brilliant" and Opera News "passionate," also reporting that he "conducted the complex work [Britten's The Rape of Lucretia] with a beat so clear that he must have brought joy and confidence to his singers and instrumentalists." Conlin's most recent CD, on which he conducts the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Chorus and soloists in George Crumb's Star-Child, won the Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary Classical Composition" at the Grammy Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles in February 2001. Even before the Grammy finalists were selected, Conlin's recording (Bridge 9095) had received highest recommendations from virtually every publication in the world, including Billboard, Classic CD, Klassik Heute, Grammophone ("monumental"), Amazon.com (Editor's Choice), and ClassicsToday.com: "This miraculous disc represents the fulfillment of a dream for all those music lovers who find themselves captivated by Crumb's haunting, evocative and passionate musical landscapes." Comparing Conlin's recording with the New York Philharmonic's, released at the same time but not nominated for a Grammy, Fanfare magazine said "Both performances are stunning; Boulez tight and potent, Conlin warm and free. Despite the former's credentials as one of the millennium's musical greats, this emotional outpouring from Warsaw is irrestible." According to American Record Guide, "The Warsaw Philharmonic [conducted by Conlin] makes a brave, exciting noise in the climaxes and is wonderfully restrained in the long fade-in and fade-out." "The sustained intensity of Thomas Conlin's performance is unlikely to be bettered," stated the International Record Review, "quite eclipsing the tentative coordination of the New York [Philharmonic] performance." The Tuscon Citizen has described Maestro Conlin as "the perfect conductor - lithe as a jaguar on the podium and graphic as a mime," but offstage he is equally effective in the behind-the-scenes rôle of Artistic Director. Under his leadership the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra achieved a season subscription rate that is triple the national average, per capita, and is the only symphony in the United States regularly producing fully-staged opera. The symphony's annual operating budget grew tenfold during his tenure and the WVSO gained national prominence for its artistic excellence. Among the many great instrumentalists who have performed with the WVSO under Conlin's baton are Emanuel Ax, Alicia de Larrocha, Leon Fleisher, James Galway, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and Isaac Stern. . Reviewing the WVSO's 50th Anniversary concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Musical America referred to Conlin's "masterful direction." Conlin and the WVSO won a Gold Award (1st Prize) at the 1992 Houston International Film Festival for their music video Symphonic Wonderworks. Owing in large part to Conlin's vision and energy, the WVSO will open the 2003-2004 season in its new home, the $135 million Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences, in Charleston. Much of the WVSO's success may be attributed to Conlin's abilities in fundraising and marketing. As Conductor Laureate he will conduct the opening concert and opera productions in the new state-of-the-art concert hall and opera house.

Thomas Conlin is a frequent guest conductor with opera and ballet companies and symphony orchestras on five continents. Recent seasons have included performances in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey and throughout the United States. He founded the Snowshoe Music Festival in the mountains of West Virginia and has also conducted at music festivals in Japan and America. His repertoire includes compositions of all styles and periods, with an emphasis on music of our time. Conlin has presented numerous world and national premieres of works by American composers. Maestro Conlin has collaborated with many of the world's greatest singers, including Kathleen Battle, Maureen Forrester, Marilyn Horne, Cornell MacNeil, Robert Merrill, Sherrill Milnes, Roberta Peters, Giorgio Tozzi and Frederica von Stade. He has served as vocal coach for many artists currently on the rosters of San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Metropolitan Opera and other major companies. He is a distinguished teacher of the art of conducting, having served in that capacity for the American Symphony Orchestra League, Queens College of the City University of New York, the Conductors' Institute at the University of South Carolina and elswhere. Articles by or about Thomas Conlin have appeared in numerous international publications, and he has lectured widely on opera and other musical subjects. While a student at Peabody Conservatory of Music (Johns Hopkins University), Conlin made operatic history with the Chamber Opera Society of Baltimore through his innovative use of projected English translations (Supertitles). As the society's artistic director, he prepared and presented the American premiere - and first staged performance in modern times - of Mozart's early masterpiece, Lucio Silla. His performing edition has been heard at San Francisco Opera and New York's Mostly Mozart festival. The conservatory awarded him the Bach-Horstmeier Prize for performance of works by J.S. Bach and the Zaidee Thomas Prize in composition. He holds honorary degrees from the University of Charleston (Doctor of Music) and West Virginia Wesleyan College (Doctor of Humane Letters). At the invitation of Herbert von Karajan, Mr. Conlin assisted with the Metropolitan Opera production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. At the Met he also assisted Erich Leinsdorf and Karl Böhm. His principal teachers of conducting are Leonard Bernstein, Sir Adrian Boult, Boris Goldovsky, Seiji Ozawa, Erich Leinsdorf and Richard Lert. He studied piano under Walter Hautzig, organ under Adolph Torofsky, violin under Paul Turchowitz, bassoon under Friedrich Pfeiffer and composition under Ernst Krenek, Benjamin Lees, Lester Trimble and SandorVeress. Thomas Conlin comes from a musical family. His grandfather was a violin virtuoso and his grandmother an opera singer. His father's ancestry has been traced back to English madrigalist William Byrd. He perfected his craft conducting opera, while his musicianship developed through intensive study of composition and the piano, on which he plays jazz as well as the classics! His compositions include symphonic works, soundtracks for several movies and television documentaries, songs, chamber music and musical theater. "A rare triumph and a remarkable musical experience" (Baltimore News-American) typifies critical reaction to Conlin's performances. According to The Providence Journal, "the audience was swept away by the excitement" and in Dublin The Irish Times reported that "the long ovation was richly deserved." The Norwegian Rogaland Avis summed up Thomas Conlin's guest conducting appearance as "an evening we will remember as one of the grandest."

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