WORKSHOP LECTURER
Robert Page
Conductor
Named Pennsylvania's Artist of the Year by Governor Tom Ridge in 1998 and dubbed a national treasure by American Record Review, Robert Page, dean of America's choral conductors, served as music director and conductor of The Mendelssohn Choir for 26 years and now as heir Music Director Emeritus.
From 1989-2005, he held the title of Director of Special Projects and Choral Activities with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He is Director of Choral and Opera Studies and is the Paul Mellon University Professor of Music at Carnegie Mellon University. Page served as Assistant Conductor and Director of Choruses for the Cleveland Orchestra (1971-1989), and conducted the world-renowned ensemble on many occasions. Prior to coming to Pittsburgh, Page served on the faculty of Temple University and was Music Director of the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia.
In great demand as a conductor of symphony orchestras, opera and music theater productions, Page has conducted many of the major orchestras of the United States, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Houston, Dallas, Louisiana, Milwaukee, Virginia, and San Antonio, as well as the opera companies of Cleveland, Kansas City, Toledo, and Opera Carolina and the Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. He was the first conductor of the famed Berkshire Choral Festival.
In Europe, he has conducted the Royal Philharmonic Opera Orchestra (London) and the Luxembourg RTL Orchestra with the Mendelssohn Choir. In June 1995, Page conducted the Czech State Philharmonic of Brno and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh in Brno, Prague and Cracow, and the Budapest Concert Orchestra (MAV) with the Mendelssohn Choir in Budapest. In 1997, He was invited to conduct the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic and Vienna. During the summers of 1999 and 2000, the orchestra invited him back to conduct the opening concerts of the Dvorak Festival in Prague and in Dvorak's hometown, Zlonice in the Czech Republic, the Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna, Salzburg and Munich.
In 2001, Page conducted the Robert Page Festival Singers and the State Orchestra of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Russia, as part of the White Nights Festival, and in Novgorod, Russia, Helsinki, Finland and at the opening concert of the Mikkeli Festival in Mikkeli, Finland. In 2003, Page led the RPFS and the Halle State Philharmonic Orchestra in Munich, Dresden, Leipzig and Berlin, and in 2005, he was invited to return to direct in performances of the Verdi Requiem to enthusiastic audiences in Halle, Germany; Geneva, Switzerland; Toulouse, France; and Barcelona, Spain. Most recently Page toured with the Robert Page Festival Singers and the MAV Budapest Symphony Orchestra through Europe in 2008, with performances at the Liszt Academy in Budapest and the St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.
Page's work can be heard on more than forty discs issued by major recording companies such as Columbia, London, RCA, Telarc, and Decca. He has received Grammy awards for his recordings of Orff's Carmina Burana and Catulli Carmina, and has eight other Grammy nominations to his credit. He is also the recipient of the Grand Prix du Disc for Porgy and Bess and a Prix Mondial de Montreux for his world premier recording of the Shostakovich Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar.
Active in the national choral scene, Page has served on the choral, festival, and overview panels of the National Endowment for the Arts. He is a founding member of Chorus America, the service organization for independent choruses, and served as its president for three years. He was also one of the first members of the American Choral Directors Association and was so honored in 2001.
