|
Artistic Director
 Harold
Evans assumes
the musical leadership of Nashirah with a significant background in choral,
instrumental and operatic conducting.
From 1999 to 2003 he was Artistic
Director/Conductor of the Sylvan Opera Festival and in that capacity led all of
its operatic productions. During his long-term association with the Des Moines
Metro Opera he served as both chorus master and conductor, leading performances
of Der Rosenkavalier, Peter Grimes, Boris Godunov, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata
and La Fanciulla del West.
As Conductor and Associate Music
Director of the Virginia Opera he led more than forty performances of ten
different productions including Die Zauberflöte, La Cenerentola, L’Elisir
d’Amore, Die Fledermaus, Hänsel und Gretel and Porgy and Bess. He has conducted
for Opera Delaware, the Cleveland Opera Theater and the Hollybush Festival and
has served on the coaching staffs of the St. Louis Opera and Opera Omaha.
Mr. Evans has conducted for the
Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina where, in addition to leading the
repertory orchestra, he prepared both chorus and orchestra for performances of
Mendelssohn’s Elijah, conducted by Robert Shaw.
During three years as resident guest
conductor of The Virginia Symphony, Mr. Evans led over forty concerts. He has
appeared with the Norfolk Chamber Consort and The Tidewater Ballet, leading
Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat, Milhaud’s La Création du monde, Poulenc’s Le
Bal masqué and Delibes’Coppélia.
Mr. Evans did his
doctoral work at Indiana University and has benefited from significant private
study with Nadia Boulanger, Julius Herford and Tibor Kozma. He has served as
rehearsal accompanist for Robert Shaw and has worked extensively as an
accompanist in the studios of internationally known singers, Margaret Harshaw
and Eileen Farrell.
Mr. Evans has twice served as
adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera National Council’s auditions and in 1993
was the honored master class teacher at The Voice Foundation’s 22nd annual
symposium. Mr. Evans currently maintains studios in New York and Philadelphia
where he teaches classical voice, coaches singers and teaches conducting. An
accomplished pianist, he performs frequently as recital accompanist.
| 
