American conductor Mark Shapiro is an acclaimed conductor of orchestras, opera, and choruses, with an extraordinarily broad and diverse repertoire. He has built a reputation for exactness in musicianship, fluent and engaging rehearsals, and emotionally and spiritually powerful performances, and he is unique among North American conductors for having won six ASCAP Awards leading three different ensembles.
The New York Times has admired his “spirit of adventure” and praised his work as “insightful” while saluting the “uncommon polish” of his music-making. Opera News appreciated his “superb pacing and great confidence.”
Following a decade-long tenure as Music Director of The Prince Edward Island Symphony — the first and only American to hold this position — Shapiro was recently honored with the title of Conductor Emeritus. Shapiro has conducted five productions for Juilliard Vocal Arts, including operas by Britten, Poulenc, and Stravinsky. Singers he has conducted at Juilliard include Young Concert Artist Winner William Sokolow and Musical America Vocalist of the Year Davone Tines. A sympathetic and imaginative advocate for both contemporary operas and core repertoire, Shapiro has conducted new works with American Opera Projects, The Center for Contemporary Opera, Encompass New Opera Theater, and Underworld Opera, and others; traditional works with the opera departments of Hofstra, Mannes and Rutgers as well as The Opera Company of Middlebury. Shapiro is Artistic Director of Cantori New York and The Cecilia Chorus of New York, which performs two concerts each season in Carnegie Hall.
September 9 @ 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Diana Wege: Earth Requiem and Rebirth