OSSCS Names Clinton Smith New Music Director

Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers (OSSCS) launch their 44th season with a dynamic new music director, Clinton Smith. After the tragic death of founder and visionary George Shangrow in 2010, OSSCS mounted an exhaustive search for a new music director that culminated in the 2012-2013 season, where six music director finalists each conducted one concert. Clinton Smith conducted the March 16, 2013 concert featuring pieces by Haydn, Gluck, Bizet and Copland. Audience and community feedback was a critical component in the decision-making process. As Board President Pro Tem Paula Rimmer summarized, "Clinton's rapport with our singers and instrumentalists was instantaneous. He has a deep understanding of OSSCS' history, exciting ideas for the future, and a truly exuberant love of music. We are thrilled to welcome him into our community."

Smith will conduct OSSCS' first concert of the 2013-2014 Season on the evening of September 28th at the First Free Methodist Church on Queen Anne. Program details for the September concert, as well as the entire season, will be announced in late July. For his inaugural season with OSSCS, Smith will link each of the concerts thematically by focusing on different facets of the human spirit. Season highlights are expected to include: the return of Handel's holiday Messiah, Bach's Mass in B Minor and the world premiere of Pacific Northwest composer Carol Sams' Rhapsody for Viola and Orchestra.

Over the past three seasons, OSSCS has enjoyed the experience of working with many talented guest conductors and welcomes the opportunity to continue to do so. The 2013-2014OSSCS Season will include seven concerts and feature two guest conductors. All concerts will take place at the First Free Methodist Church in Queen Anne, where parking is free and convenient. Most concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday evenings and there will be one Sunday holiday matinee at 3:00 p.m. OSSCS will begin selling season subscriptions in August.

In addition to Smith's role as OSSCS music director, he will continue as artistic director and principal conductor of the St. Cloud Symphony. About his new post with OSSCS, Smith says, "Our concert together in March was a highlight in my career. I felt an instant connection with the performers' energy and dedication. OSSCS is unique in the symphonic world with its familial atmosphere and celebrated equal partnership between chorus and orchestra."

About Clinton Smith
Clinton Smith is artistic director and principal conductor of the St. Cloud Symphony and currently serves on the music staff of Santa Fe Opera covering and preparing performances of La traviata and Le nozze di Figaro. He will also conduct at the University of Michigan Opera Theater's production of IL Barbiere di Siviglia in the coming season.

Recently Clinton served as cover conductor for Juilliard Opera's production of The Cunning Little Vixen and Portland Opera's Don Giovanni. He was assistant conductor and chorus master for San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program, assistant conductor for Glimmerglass Opera's productions of Tolomeo and The Tender Land, conductor of Madama Butterfly at Hamline University and Mademoiselle Modiste for Skylark Opera, music director of Western Ontario University's Canadian Operatic Arts Academy, and guest coach at the National University of Taiwan. He also served on the music staff for Kentucky Opera's Don Giovanni and Ash Lawn Opera's productions of Gianni Schicchi, Die Zauberflöte and The Music Man.

For four seasons, Minnesota Opera engaged Clinton as cover conductor and chorus master, covering the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Minnesota Opera Orchestra in over 20 productions. In 2011, Clinton conducted a workshop and prepared the world premiere of Kevin Puts' opera Silent Night, which subsequently won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music. For Minnesota Opera's New Works Initiative, and as an avid fan of new music, Clinton prepared workshops of Douglas J. Cuomo's Doubt, Ricky Ian Gordon's The Garden of the Finzi-Continis and the North American premiere of Jonathan Dove's The Adventures of Pinocchio, as well as Dominick Argento's Casanova's Homecoming and Bernard Herrmann's Wuthering Heights. With the St. Cloud Symphony's Young Composer's Competition, Clinton premieres a new work every season.

Previous positions include music director and conductor of the Franco-American Vocal Academy in France; the Austrian-American Mozart Academy in Salzburg; and the University of Michigan Life Sciences Orchestra. Clinton served as assistant conductor for the Austin Symphony, International Institute of Vocal Arts in Chiari, Italy, the University of Michigan Opera Theater, and the University of Michigan Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestras.

A native Texan, Clinton received his D.M.A. ('09) and M.M. ('06) in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Kenneth Kiesler and Martin Katz, and a B.M. in Piano Performance ('04) from the University of Texas at Austin.

Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers (OSSCS) is a thriving volunteer based organization with deep roots in the Seattle community. It consists of a 60-member semi-professional orchestra and a 45-voice chorus. Membership in both groups is by audition and includes professional musicians, music teachers, and highly skilled amateurs who came together to work under the direction of OSSCS founder and visionary George Shangrow. During its 44-year history, OSSCS has made an extensive tour of the orchestral and choral literature and has sought to promote new music by Northwest composers using the finest local instrumental and vocal soloists. The ensembles have attained special recognition for their interpretations of the music of Handel and Bach and have introduced rarely-heard choral masterpieces to Seattle audiences, such as Handel's Israel in Egypt, Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers, and Haydn's The Seasons. Praised by critics for their vibrant sound and spirited, disciplined singing, the Seattle Chamber Singers also delight in performing classics such as Handel's Messiah, Beethoven'sNinth Symphony, and Brahms' German Requiem. After George Shangrow's unexpected and tragic death in 2010, OSSCS presented three seasons of concerts led by guest conductors. In 2013 OSSCS welcomed Clinton Smith as music director to usher in a new era of music by, and for, the Northwest.

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