Participate in the Idaho Statesman's Online Poll and vote for your favorite finalist!  Highlights from Emil de Cou’s conducting career include his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Pops, screenings in 2005 and 2006 of The Wizard of Oz with the movie score performed live by the National Symphony Orchestra., and a guest engagement with the New York City Ballet. Recordings of note include a performance of the ballet Othello with the San Francisco Ballet for the PBS program Great Performances and Debussy Rediscovered for Arabesque, which includes the world premiere of de Cou's reconstruction of Printemps-Suite Symphonique. A native of Los Angeles, de Cou’s early training in horn and piano led to studies in conducting and composition at the Music Academy of Vienna. He later enrolled in the graduate conducting program at the University of Southern California and in 1982, was chosen from 200 candidates to study in Leonard Bernstein's master class at the Hollywood Bowl.  A champion of innovative music, Robert Franz conducted the ASCAP award winning new music concert series of The Louisville Orchestra and has been a co-host of “In a Different Key,” a weekly contemporary music radio program on WUOL. He is also a strong advocate of arts education and created a music education program for Kentucky Educational Television entitled, “Creating Music and Stories.” Mr. Franz is the Resident Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Music Director of the Mansfield Ohio Symphony Orchestra, and has conducted other orchestras throughout the nation. As an oboist, he participated in the NEA/CMA Rural Residency Chamber Music Initiative and held the English Horn position with the Winston-Salem Piedmont Triad Symphony. In addition, Mr. Franz has participated in Children's Center and Enrichment Center chamber music residencies designed to provide arts enrichment experiences for people with disabilities. Robert Franz received his Master of Music degree in conducting from the North Carolina School of the Arts in 1992 and his Bachelor of Music degree in oboe performance in 1990 from that same institution. He has participated in conducting workshops in the Czech Republic, St. Petersburg, Nashville, the Festival at Sandpoint, Idaho, and the 1997 National Conductor Preview sponsored by the American Symphony Orchestra League.   Scott O'Neil joined the Utah Symphony staff as Assistant Conductor in August 2000 and was appointed Associate Conductor in February 2002. He has guest conducted the Houston Symphony, Houston Youth Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Annapolis Symphony, Florida Philharmonic, Tulsa Philharmonic, and the Portland, ME Symphony. Maestro O'Neil studied Piano Performance at the Oberlin College Conservatory, served as the Assistant Conductor of the Eastman School Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestras at the Eastman School of Music, and earned the degree of Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting at Rice University, where he was the Director of the Campanile Orchestra, a community/university orchestra. In 1999 he served as Director of Orchestras at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas. In the spring of 2003, Mr. O'Neil was selected by the American Symphony Orchestra League to conduct an orchestra comprised of members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and advanced students from the University of Southern California in Synergy, a program created to promote young, contemporary composers. Also in the spring of 2003, Mr. O'Neil was selected by ASOL to appear on the Conductor Preview with the Jacksonville Symphony. This season will see Mr. O'Neil lead the inaugural National Honors Orchestra in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is a new festival created by Bands of America, and the orchestra will bring together some of the most talented American high school musicians, selected through nation-wide auditions. Maestro O'Neil leads the Utah Symphony in over 100 concerts each year, including educational concerts and appearances on each of the Utah Symphony's performance series, including the Masterworks series. |
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