Visiting Conductors — 2010-11 Season

Stuart Chafetz

Stuart Chafetz, known for his ability to engage audiences with innovative classical and pops concerts, is a conductor increasingly in demand with orchestras nationwide. Maestro Chafetz is the  resident  conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony. He has guest conducted the symphonies of Chicago, Detroit and Toronto, among others. Maestro Chafetz focuses on the importance and joy of classical music and the fine arts in our everyday lives.

James Cochran

James Cochran is the founder and director of the 70-voice Philharmonic Center Chorale, as well as resident organist of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and director of the Philharmonic Youth Chorale. He has performed as an organ recitalist in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Mexico.

Kelly Corcoran

Kelly Corcoran is associate conductor of the Nashville Symphony and serves as the primary conductor for the Nashville Symphony’s educational programs. Corcoran has conducted orchestras throughout the Midwest and the East Coast, including performances with the Milwaukee Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra.

Victor DeRenzi is in his 29th season as artistic director and principal conductor of Sarasota Opera, for whom he has produced more than 75 different operas and conducted more than 400 performances. DeRenzi has also appeared across the United States with Lyric Opera of Chicago as well as the St. Louis, Toledo and New Orleans operas. Internationally, he has worked in Nice, Edmonton, Quebec City and elsewhere and was a frequent visitor to opera companies in Hong Kong and the Canary Islands.

Berklee-trained arranger and conductor Brent Havens was the arranger and guest conductor of last season's sold out The Music of Led Zeppelin symphonic rock program. This season he returns with two more programs: The Music of Pink Floyd and The Music of the Eagles. He has written music for orchestras, feature films and television.

Michael Krajewski is principal pops conductor of the Houston, New Mexico and Jacksonville orchestras. He also served in that position with the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra from 1994-2005. Krajewski has earned a local following for his pops concerts with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra.

Juan Francisco La Manna is principal conductor for Miami City Ballet. Maestro La Manna is also orchestra director and a member of the piano faculty at the State University of New York in Oswego. Prior to his appointment at S.U.N.Y., La Manna lived in the Kansas City area, where he was conductor for the State Ballet of Missouri and directed for the late Rudolf Nureyev. La Manna is artistic director of the Oswego Opera Theater, and has conducted orchestras in New York, Colorado, Florida and abroad.

Andrew Lane is resident and principal pops conductor of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and music director of the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra. His pops concerts have featured Branford Marsalis, Deborah Gibson, Peter Schickele, Arturo Sandoval, Doc Severinsen and many others. Maestro Lane is also pops conductor of the Florida West Coast Symphony (Sarasota) and has guest-conducted many other orchestras.

Robert Moody is music director of the Portland (Maine) Symphony and also serves as music director of the Winston-Salem Symphony and artistic director of Arizona Musicfest. From 1998 to 2006, Maestro Moody was associate, then resident, conductor of the Phoenix Symphony. He has worked with such esteemed artists as Itzhak Perlman, Van Cliburn, Midori, Amy Grant and The Manhattan Transfer.

Carlos Miguel Prieto holds four music directorships with orchestras in his native Mexico and in the United States – Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico (National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico), Mexico’s most important orchestra; Orquesta Mineria; the Louisiana Philharmonic; and the Huntsville Symphony. He has guest-conducted some of the leading North American orchestras as well as orchestras throughout Europe, Russia, Israel and Latin America.

Alfred Savia is music director of the Evansville (Indiana) Philharmonic Orchestra and a frequent guest conductor throughout North American and the world. He was formerly associate conductor of the Indianapolis and Florida symphony orchestras and music director of the Orlando Opera.

Jerry Steichen has distinguished himself as one of the country’s most versatile conductors in a career ranging from symphony to opera to Broadway to chamber music. He serves as music director of the Ridgefield (Connecticut) Symphony and is principal pops conductor for the Utah Symphony. Steichen has conducted the Boston Pops, New York City Opera and various Broadway shows, including the final performance of CATS.

Michael Stern is music director of the Kansas City Symphony and principal guest conductor of Orchestre National de Lille, France. He is also founding artistic director and principal conductor of the IRIS Orchestra in Germantown, Tennessee. Stern has led some of the top orchestras in the U.S. and around the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the London Symphony, the Moscow Philharmonic and others.

Steven White is one of the country’s leading opera conductors, having led the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Baltimore Opera, Arizona Opera and many others. White is artistic director of Opera Roanoke and has conducted nearly all of that group’s productions since 1999.