- Derek Gleeson
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Derek Gleeson 
Background information Origin Dublin, Ireland. Genres Orchestral/Contemporary Occupations Conductor/Composer Instruments Piano, Timpani & Percussion Website http://www.derekgleeson.com Derek Gleeson: Irish/American dual Citizen. Music Director, Conductor, Composer, Music Producer, Timpanist, Percussionist, Pianist and Educator. Born in Dublin, February 28, 1964.
Music Director & Conductor of the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra.[1](1997–Present). Conductor at the Anna Livia Dublin International Opera Festival. (Founded by Bernadette Greevy). Composer of the Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTAs) (2005–Present).[2] Director of Ceoil Productions Ireland/Screen Training Ireland's[3] film scoring program.(1996–Present). Composer of musical scores for Film and Television[4] and of symphonic music for the concert hall.(1997–Present)
DPO Conductor Derek Gleeson
Contents
Music Education
Music Director & Conductor Derek Gleeson(1970–1984) Gleeson studied Piano, Music Theory/Composition, Timpani and Percussion at both the College of Music, Dublin, and the Royal Irish Academy of Music, additional private timpani studies with Martin Metrustry, principal timpanist of the RTE Symphony Orchestra (now the: RTE National Symphony Orchestra), and with Alan Cumberland, principal timpanist (at the time,) of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Later,(1981–1984) Gleeson attended the Royal Academy of Music, London.
(1984–1988) Continued further studies in Conducting in London with Harry Newstone[5] at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and with Karl Oesterreicher[6] at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Wien, (University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna)
(1990–1994) Gleeson studied Film Scoring at UCLA (the University of California at Los Angeles), with Don Brandon Ray and Robert Drasnin.
(2000–2004) Opera Conducting studies continued in Easter Europe with Valeri Vachev and Milen Nachev, a protege of Ilya Musin.[7]
Early Musical Life
Gleeson's early musical life was an eclectic one. At age twelve, he was Timpanist of the Irish Youth Orchestra, (IYO). (Now the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland).[8] At age fifteen, as a Percussionist and Timpanist, he joined the European Community Youth Orchestra (ECYO) (now the European Union Youth Orchestra, EUYO)[9] where he had the opportunity to work under the great conducting masters of the day, including Herbert Von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Leonard Bernstein, Sir Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim, whilst performing, amongst others, at the Salzburg Festival, the Edinburgh Festival, Lucerne Festival as well as at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. In parallel, he was also a member of "EuroJazz"[10] The European Community Youth Jazz Orchestra and NYJO, The National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Great Britain,[11] with whom he featured as Vibraphone soloist in the CD release of Paul Hart's Concerto for Classical Guitar and Jazz Orchestra, written for Guitarist John Williams, released on CBS Records.
At 15 years old, as freelance timpanist and percussionist, Gleeson began working with the RTE Concert Orchestra and the RTE Symphony Orchestra while still attending High School. Between 1979 and 1989 he performed as a freelance orchestral player with many of the prominent British Orchestras, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.[12] In 1984 he was a prize winner in the Shell/London Symphony Orchestra Music Scholarship. During this period he also worked as a Studio Session Musician, principally as a Keyboardist and Piano player for pop/rock and commercial recording sessions.
Whilst living and studying conducting in Vienna at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Wien(University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna) Gleeson sang second bass with Gunther Theuring's,[13] Wiener Jeunesse-Chor,[14] with whom he performed with the Wiener Philharmoniker[15] at the Musikverein.[16] (Gleeson also studied Voice periodically with the famed Irish vocal teacher Veronica Dunne at the College of Music, Dublin. Now called, the DIT-Conservatory of Music & Drama,[17] Dublin)
In 1989, Gleeson "won" a U.S. Green Card (NP-5 Visa) in the U.S. Donnelly Visa lottery and moved to Los Angeles where he attended UCLA, studying Film Scoring and Composition.
Conducting
Dublin Philharmonic OrchestraIn December 1989, Gleeson moved to Los Angeles, left the world of the freelance orchestral musician, and directed his time exclusively to Conducting and Composition.
Amongst others, Gleeson has conducted: The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra; The London Philharmonic Orchestra; The RTÉ Concert Orchestra (RTÉ = Raidió Teilifís Éireann; Ireland's national broadcaster); The National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland; Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina, (Italy); The Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic, (Czech); The Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, (Czech); RTL Orchestra, (Luxembourg); The NOS Nederlandse Omroep Stichting Orchestra, (Holland); The Danish Radio Concert Orchestra (Denmark); Orchestra of the Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet, (England); Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, (Bulgaria); Philharmonia Bulgarica; The Vratza Philharmonic Orchestra, (Bulgaria); The Los Angeles Composers Guild Chamber Orchestra; The Ruckert Chamber Orchestra, (Ireland); and the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, (Iran). Opera repertoire includes: Verdi's La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Rigoletto and Un Ballo in Maschera. Mozart's, La Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Magic Flute. Bizet's Carmen. Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.
Anna Livia Dublin International Opera Festival "Conductor Derek Gleeson kept perfect pace and never overwhelmed the action...I doubt there has been a better Rigoletto in Dublin. The President of Ireland led a prolonged standing ovation, and deservedly so" The Sunday Business Post, September '08
"His Mahler's Fifth Symphony was glorious" The Irish Times
"Thanks to the authority & dynamism of the young and talented conductor Derek Gleson, the orchestra excelled itself," The Irish Times.
To great acclaim, Derek Gleeson conducted the premier CD recording of Tchaikovsky's Ode to Joy,[18] The original Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture and Prokofiev's Zdravitsa (Prokofiev) with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. (Carlton Classics/IMP Masters)[19]
"Performances are entirely convincing, polished and stylsh under Irish conductor Gleeson's able leadership." In Tune Magazine
"Derek Gleeson conducted with spirit....striking detail...A must for anyone who loves Russian music" Classic CD Magazine
In 2009, Gleeson and the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra made the largest orchestral tour of the U.S.A. that year, to over 49 cities, under the auspices of Columbia Artists Management, Inc.[20]
In 2010, Gleeson and the DPO toured China, performing at the Shanghai Grand Theatre's World Expo Program,[21] and two concerts opening the Beijing Summer Festival "Roam about the Classics"[22] from the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) at the Opera House, televised throughout China to over 400 million people.
Composition
Gleeson composed Film Scores for the feature films The White Pony[23] (Director Brian Kelly); Irish Whiskey[24] (Director Jon Stevens); Moving Target[25] (Director Paul Ziller); The Doorway[26] (Director Michael Druxman); Kitchen[27] (Director Kieron J Walsh) and additional music on The Suicide Club[28] (Director Rachel Samuels).
In addition to composing music for film, Gleeson is Director of Ceoil Productions Ireland/Screen Training Ireland's Film Scoring Program. He served as composer advisor to Moonstone[disambiguation needed
] International and as Music Jury Chairman and Composer of the Irish Film & Television Awards (IFTAs)Links/Citations
- ^ http://www.dublinphilharmonic.com
- ^ http://www.ifta.ie
- ^ http://www.screentrainingireland.ie
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004544/
- ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/harry-newstone-475735.html
- ^ http://www.oocities.org/soho/museum/4084/Oesterreicher.html
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/14/arts/ilya-musin-russian-conductor-and-mentor-dies-at-95.html
- ^ http://www.nyoi.ie/
- ^ http://www.euyo.org.uk/alumni-tales
- ^ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:AZH8If0vuOYJ:www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-EuroJazz.html+%22European+Community+Youth+Jazz+Orchestra%22&cd=15&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ie&source=www.google.ie
- ^ http://www.nyjo.org.uk/
- ^ http://www.coeurope.org/
- ^ http://www.wiener-meisterkurse.at/index.php?ch=gtheuring
- ^ http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/WJC.htm
- ^ http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/
- ^ http://www.musikverein.at/
- ^ http://www.dit.ie/conservatory/
- ^ http://wn.com/MaestroDerekGleeson
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Prokofiev-Zdravitsa-Tchaikovsky-Original-Overture/dp/B000000TQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1309111004&sr=8-1
- ^ http://www.dublinphilharmonic.com/docs/DPO%20Souvenir%20Brochure%20(FINAL)%20-%20to%20email.pdf
- ^ http://www.dublinphilharmonic.com/docs/DPO%20Shanghai%20Grand%20Theatre%20Program%20Brochure.pdf
- ^ http://en.piao.com.cn/beijing/ticket_3316.html
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192792/
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119383/
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213094/
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235353/
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0859620/
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249172/
- ^ http://www.dublinphilharmonic.com
- ^ http://www.ifta.ie
- ^ http://www.screentrainingireland.ie
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004544/
- ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/harry-newstone-475735.html
- ^ http://www.oocities.org/soho/museum/4084/Oesterreicher.html
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/14/arts/ilya-musin-russian-conductor-and-mentor-dies-at-95.html
- ^ http://www.nyoi.ie/
- ^ http://www.euyo.org.uk/alumni-tales
- ^ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:AZH8If0vuOYJ:www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-EuroJazz.html+%22European+Community+Youth+Jazz+Orchestra%22&cd=15&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ie&source=www.google.ie
- ^ http://www.nyjo.org.uk/
- ^ http://www.coeurope.org/
- ^ http://www.wiener-meisterkurse.at/index.php?ch=gtheuring
- ^ http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/WJC.htm
- ^ http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/
- ^ http://www.musikverein.at/
- ^ http://www.dit.ie/conservatory/
- ^ http://wn.com/MaestroDerekGleeson
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Prokofiev-Zdravitsa-Tchaikovsky-Original-Overture/dp/B000000TQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1309111004&sr=8-1
- ^ http://www.dublinphilharmonic.com/docs/DPO%20Souvenir%20Brochure%20(FINAL)%20-%20to%20email.pdf
- ^ http://www.dublinphilharmonic.com/docs/DPO%20Shanghai%20Grand%20Theatre%20Program%20Brochure.pdf
- ^ http://en.piao.com.cn/beijing/ticket_3316.html
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192792/
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119383/
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213094/
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235353/
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0859620/
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249172/
References
- Sources consulted
Categories:- Irish composers
- Artistic directors (music)
- Living people
- 1964 births
- People from Dublin (city)
- American people of Irish descent
- Alumni of the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna
- Irish film score composers
- Conductors (music)
- Irish conductors (music)
- American conductors (music)
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