|
Dr. Thomas Cockrell
Nelson Riddle Endowed Chair (520) 621-7028 studio School
of Music |
|
Thomas Cockrell is regarded as one of America’s most versatile young
conductors, equally at home on the symphonic podium or in the opera pit.
In addition to his roles as Director of Orchestral Activities and Nelson Riddle Endowed
Chair in Music Cockrell is on the conducting faculty of the Interlochen
Arts Camp.
From 2003-2005 he served as Music Director of Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point Fine Arts Center in Eureka Springs, Arkansas where he lead productions of Die Fledermaus, Don Giovanni, L'Elisir d'Amore, Carmen, Orpheus in the Underworld and Die Zauberflöte. Cockrell has conducted La bohème and Don Giovanni for Dayton Opera, Les Contes d’Hoffmann for Summer Opera Theatre Company of Washington, D.C., and The Ballad of Baby Doe, Pagliacci and Gianni Schicchi for Colorado Springs' Opera Theatre of the Rockies. In 1999 he conducted programs of American compositions with the orchestras of Brasov Târgu-Mures and Râmnicu-Vâlcea, Romania and at the National Academy of Music in Bucharest, where he was a guest professor. He has been frequent conductor of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Passionately committed to the training of young musicians, Cockrell joined the faculty of the Interlochen Center for the Arts in 2006. He has also served as Music Director of Denver Young Artists Orchestra and has been a faculty artist at the Académie Internationale de Musique, Château de Rangiport, outside of Paris. From 1995 to 2000 he was Assistant Professor of Music and Director of the UCI Symphony Orchestra at the University of California, Irvine. He is a frequent guest conductor for All-State and regional festival orchestras throughout the nation. As the Associate Conductor of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra 1992-1995 Cockrell conducted nearly fifty subscription, pops, family and youth concerts annually. Simultaneously serving as Associate Conductor of Opera Colorado, he has led productions of Il barbiere di Siviglia, Lucia di Lammermoor, La cenerentola, Le nozze di Figaro, Il tabarro and Britten's Albert Herring. He has conducted productions of The Nutcracker, Coppélia and Giselle for the Boulder Ballet, For the Spoleto Festivals in Italy and South Carolina he has conducted symphonic, chamber and contemporary music concerts as well as served as Assistant to the Music Director for productions of Parsifal, Elektra, and Salome. In 1992 he debuted as a Featured Young Artist conducting the Spoleto Festival Orchestra. Following that success Gian Carlo Menotti asked him to conduct his opera Maria Golovin in 1993. He has also served as the Associate Conductor of Cincinnati Opera. Cockrell earned his D.M.A. and M.M. degrees from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a B.A. from Yale University. He studied conducting with Franco Ferrara at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and at the Conservatoire Américain in Fontainebleau, France, the Aspen Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Center, where he worked with Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa and Gustav Meier. Cockrell is married to violist Yvonne Creanga. They have two children, Alexandra Giulia and James Thomas both seasoned performers of the role of Dolore in Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
|
| Back to Orchestra Home Page |