Carl St.Clair is internationally recognized for his distinguished career as a professional conductor and master teacher. He has had a continuing relationship with the USC Thornton School of Music for over 25 years as conductor of the USC Thornton orchestras and a faculty lecturer in conducting. In 2012, he took on an expanded role as artistic leader and principal conductor of the USC Thornton orchestras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2022-2023 season marks his thirty-third year as music director of the Pacific Symphony. He is one of the longest-tenured conductors of the major American orchestras. St.Clair\u2019s lengthy history solidifies the strong relationship he has forged with the musicians and the community. His continuing role also lends stability to the organization and continuity to his vision for the symphony\u2019s future. Few orchestras can claim such rapid artistic development as the Pacific Symphony\u2014the largest-budgeted orchestra formed in the United States in the last 50 years\u2014due in large part to St.Clair\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his tenure, St.Clair has become widely recognized for his musically distinguished performances, his commitment to building outstanding educational programs and his innovative approaches to programming. In April 2018, St.Clair led the Pacific Symphony in its sold-out Carnegie Hall debut as the finale to the Carnegie\u2019s yearlong celebration of pre-eminent composer Philip Glass\u2019s eightieth birthday, ending in a standing ovation and with The New York Times calling the symphony \u201ca major ensemble!\u201d He led the Pacific Symphony on its first tour to China in May 2018, the orchestra\u2019s first international tour since touring Europe in 2006. The orchestra made its national PBS debut in June 2018 on Great Performances with Peter Boyer\u2019s \u201cEllis Island: The Dream of America,\u201d conducted by St.Clair. Among St.Clair\u2019s many creative endeavors are the highly acclaimed American Composers Festival, which began in 2000; and the opera initiative, \u201cSymphonic Voices,\u201d which continues for the ninth season in 2019-20 with Verdi\u2019s Othello, following the concert-opera productions of Madame Butterfly, The Magic Flute, Aida, Turandot, Carmen, La Traviata, Tosca and La Boh\u00e8me in previous seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
St.Clair\u2019s commitment to the development and performance of new works by composers is evident in the wealth of commissions and recordings by the Pacific Symphony. The 2016-17 season featured commissions by pianist\/composer Conrad Tao and composer-in-residence Narong Prangcharoen, a follow-up to the recent slate of recordings of works commissioned and performed by the symphony in recent years. These include William Bolcom\u2019s Songs of Lorca and Prometheus (2015-16), Elliot Goldenthal\u2019s Symphony in G-sharp Minor (2014-15), Richard Danielpour\u2019s Toward a Season of Peace (2013-14), Philip Glass\u2019 The Passion of Ramakrishna (2012-13) and Michael Daugherty\u2019s Mount Rushmore and The Gospel According to Sister Aimee (2012-13). St.Clair has led the orchestra in other critically acclaimed albums including two piano concertos of Lukas Foss, Danielpour\u2019s An American Requiem and Goldenthal\u2019s Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Other commissioned composers include James Newton Howard, Zhou Long, Tobias Picker, Frank Ticheli, Chen Yi, Curt Cacioppo, Stephen Scott, Jim Self (Pacific Symphony\u2019s principal tubist) and Christopher Theofanidis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2006 and 2007, Carl St.Clair led the orchestra\u2019s historic move into its home in the Ren\u00e9e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The move came on the heels of the landmark 2005-2006 season that included St.Clair leading the symphony on its first European tour\u2014nine cities in three countries playing before capacity houses and receiving extraordinary responses and reviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From 2008-2010, St.Clair was general music director for the Komische Oper in Berlin. He also served as general music director and chief conductor of the German National Theater and Staatskapelle (GNTS) in Weimar, Germany, where he led Wagner\u2019s Ring Cycle to critical acclaim. He was the first non-European to hold his position at the GNTS; the role also gave him the distinction of simultaneously leading one of the newest orchestras in America and one of the oldest in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2014, Carl St.Clair became the music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Costa Rica. His international career also has him conducting abroad several months a year, and he has appeared with orchestras throughout the world. He was the principal guest conductor of the Radio Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart from 1998 to 2004, where he completed a three-year recording project of the Villa\u2013Lobos symphonies. He has also appeared with orchestras in Israel, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South America, China, Thailand and Malaysia and in summer festivals worldwide. In North America, St.Clair has led the Boston Symphony Orchestra (where he served as assistant conductor for several years), New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Francisco, Seattle, Detroit, Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver symphonies, among many.
Carl St.Clair is a strong advocate of music education for all ages and is internationally recognized for his distinguished career as a master teacher. He has been essential to the creation and implementation of the Pacific Symphony\u2019s education and community engagement programs including Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles, Heartstrings, Sunday Matin\u00e9es, OC Can You Play With Us?, arts-X-press and Class Act. In addition to his professional conducting career, St.Clair has worked with most major music schools across the country. In 2018, Chapman University President Danielle Struppa appointed St.Clair as a Presidential Fellow, working closely with the students of the College of the Performing Arts at Chapman University. St.Clair has been named \u201cDistinguished Alumni in Residence\u201d at the University of Texas Butler School of Music beginning 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":20565,"template":"","degree":[],"major":[],"people_category":[61,261],"class_list":["post-20576","people","type-people","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","people_category-international-artist-advisory-council","people_category-usa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n