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Recently names Conductor of the Year by Musical America, Joseph Flummerfelt's musical artistry has been acclaimed in many of the world's finest concert halls for over 30 years.
Joseph Flummerfelt studied Organ and Church Music at the DePauw University (Bachelor of Music, 1958), Choral Conducting at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music (Master of Music, 1962), Choral Conducting at the University of Illinois (Doctor of Musical Arts, 1971). He had also Summer Studies with Julius Herford and Roger Wagner in San Diego, California (1958) and Nadia Boulanger in Fountainebleu, France (1964).
Joseph Flummerfelt professional experince include: Instructor in Choral Music at the University of Illinois (1963-1964), Director of Choral Activities at the DePauw University (1964-1968), Director of Choral Activities at the Florida State University (1968-1971), Visiting Professor at the Indiana University (Fall 1987). Since 1971, he has served as artistic director and principal conductor of Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey. He has been director of choral activities for the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, since 1977 and for 23 years was the Maestro del Coro for the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy (1971-1993). He is chorus master for the New York Philharmonic (from 1979), the founder and conductor of the New York Choral Artists (from 1979), and former Music Director of Singing City in Philadelphia (1994-1999).
A gifted orchestral conductor, Joseph Flummerfelt made his conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1988 and has appeared as guest conductor with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Honolulu Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Spoleto Festival Orchestra (USA and Italy), Bochumer Symphoniker (Germany), and the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra, among others. Appearances last season (2003) include his return to the New York Philharmonic where he conducted the world premiere performances of Voices of Light by Stephen Paulus, and Mozart's Requiem and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms at the Spoleto Festival USA. This season is highlighted by performances of Verdi's Requiem with the Hartford Symphony.
For three decades Joseph Flummerfelt has collaborated in the preparation of hundreds of choral/orchestral performances with many eminent conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Leonard Bernstein, Boulez, Chailly, Carlo Maria Giulini, Kurt Masur, Mehta, Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Steinberg.
Choirs prepared by Joseph Flummerfelt have been featured on over 40 recordings, including Britten's War Requiem and Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem and Schicksalslied with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic; Mahler's Symphony No. 2 and a Grammy Award-winning Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with Leonard Bernstein; Puccini's Tosca and Berlioz's Romeo and Juliet with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra; Messiaen's Le Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jesus Christ with the National Symphony. His collaboration with Samuel Barber includes the Grammy Award-winning recording of the composer's opera, Anthony and Cleopatra.
Among the many recordings he has made with the Westminster Choir, his recent Delos recording of Brahms' choral works (Singing for Pleasure) was chosen by The New York Times as a favorite among all existing Brahms recordings. American Choral Classics, featuring members of the New York Philharmonic with the Westminster Choir, was released by Newport Classics in 2001.
Widely known as a master teacher, Joseph Flummerfelt has long worked with both gifted students and established professionals in his classes and rehearsals at Westminster Choir College and in master-classes in the USA and around the world. One of the consistent results of his passion for choral/orchestral music is the student-composed Westminster Symphonic Choir, an ensemble continually praised for its power of expression, colorful nuance, robust rhythmic intensity and elegant balance.
Joseph Flummerfelt's many honors include le Prix du President de la Republique from L'Academie du Disque Francais, two Grammy nominations and four honorary doctoral degrees. |
