Carl St.Clair
Carl Ray St.Clair (born June 5, 1952, Hochheim, Texas) is an American conductor.
St. Clair went to school in Yoakum, TX and graduated from Yoakum High School. He then attended the University of Texas. He later studied conducting with Gustav Meier at the University of Michigan and Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood.[1] He was music director of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (Michigan) from 1985 to 1992, and of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra (Ithaca, NY) from 1986 to 1991. Beginning in 1986, he was an assistant conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.[2] In 1990, he was a recipient of the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award.[3] St.Clair has served on the faculty of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
In January 1990, he conducted the Pacific Symphony Orchestra for the first time, and on the success of that appearance, was named the orchestra's music director.[4] During his Pacific Symphony tenure, he and the orchestra have commissioned and recorded several works, including Richard Danielpour's An American Requiem (Reference Recordings) and Elliot Goldenthal's Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio (Sony Classical) with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Other recordings include "Radiant Voices" and "Postcard" by composer in residence Frank Ticheli (Koch International Classics), and the two piano concertos of Lukas Foss (harmonia mundi). The orchestra and St.Clair host an annual festival of American composers,[5] including "Uncharted Beauty: The Music of Lou Harrison" (2005–2006), "Los Sonidos de México" (2006–2007), and "The West — Music inspired by the American Frontier" (2007–2008).
In Europe, St.Clair was the Principal Guest Conductor of the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart from 1998–2004, where his work included a three–year recording project of the Villa–Lobos symphonies. He became Generalmusikdirektor (General Music Director, or GMD) of the Staatskapelle Weimar in 2005, a post he held for three years. In 2008 he took up the post of GMD of the Komische Oper Berlin,[1] with an initial contract of six years, but in May 2010 he resigned effective with the end of the 2009-10 season.
St.Clair has worked on the creation and implementation of various symphony education programs, including "Classical Connections", "arts-X–press" and "Class Act". He is also on the faculty at USC's Thornton School of Music. In 2006, he worked with the German Bundesjugendorchester (National Youth Orchestra).
On September 13, 2013, St. Clair was appointed Principal Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica.[6]
Personal life
Carl and wife Susan live in Laguna Beach, Ca. and have three children, Cole(d), Siena and Cade.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Chute, James. "Curtain falls on conductor search; Foster set standard, but now St. Clair looks to get the job". The Orange County Register, 11 February 1990.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Yendry Miranda (2013-08-13). "Carl St.Clair es el nuevo director de la Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional". La Nación. Retrieved 2013-08-13.
External links
- Komische Oper Berlin English-language biography
- Sony Classical biography
- USC Thornton School of Music
- Pacific Symphony biography
- Staatskapelle Weimar German-language biography
- Schmidt Artists International - St. Clair's North American management
| Cultural offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by
Keith Clark
|
Music Director, Pacific Symphony 1990–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by | Generalmusikdirektor, Staatskapelle Weimar 2005–2008 |
Succeeded by Stefan Solyom |
| Preceded by | Generalmusikdirektor, Komische Oper Berlin 2008–2010 |
Succeeded by Patrick Lange |
- American conductors (music)
- 20th-century conductors (music)
- 21st-century conductors (music)
- Texas classical music
- University of Texas at Austin alumni
- University of Michigan alumni
- Southern Illinois University faculty
- Thornton School of Music faculty
- 1952 births
- Living people
- People from DeWitt County, Texas
- Musicians from Texas
- 20th-century American musicians
- 21st-century American musicians
