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PETER BAY, conductor Peter Bay began his tenth season as Music Director of the Austin Symphony in September 2007. He also continues his long tenure as Music Director of the Britt Classical Festival in Oregon. Before assuming his present position with the Austin Symphony, Bay was
Music Director of the Erie Philharmonic and was Principal Guest
Conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic, an orchestra with which he had
held During his four-year tenure as Resident Conductor of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Bay conducted the ensemble in numerous subscription concerts and led them on tours through eight states. A special Copland 90th Birthday Concert, broadcast live over National Public Radio, brought him national attention. Other positions previously held by Mr. Bay have included Music Director of the Annapolis Symphony, and Music Advisor and Principal Conductor of the Breckenridge Music Festival in Colorado. He also held four different conducting posts with the Richmond Symphony in Virginia, with whom he gave the United States premiere of Benjamin Britten's The Sword in the Stone which was then recorded for Opus One Records. In addition to his work at the Britt Festival, his summer festival appearances have included the Ravinia Festival, Grant Park Music Festival (IL), Aspen (CO), OK Mozart (OK), Sewanee (TN), and Skaneateles (NY). As a guest conductor, Bay has appeared with the Baltimore Symphony, National Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, New Mexico Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Eugene (OR) Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Reno Philharmonic, Tulsa Philharmonic, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera (IL), Nebraska Chamber Orchestra, and Solisti New York. He has also made guest appearances at the Round Top Festival in Texas, with the opera theatres of Eastman and Aspen and with Theater Chamber Players of the Kennedy Center. He conducted the National Orchestral Institute Orchestra at the University of Maryland in a performance which was included as part of the 1997 American Symphony Orchestra League Conference. In May 1998 he made his European debut with the Bochum Symphony in Germany to rave reviews. A native of Washington, DC, Maestro Bay is a graduate of the University of Maryland and the Peabody Institute. In 1994 he was one of two conductors selected to participate in the Leonard Bernstein American Conductors program. He was also the first place winner of the 1980 Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Young Conductors Competition and the 1987 Leopold Stowkowski Competition sponsored by the American Symphony Orchestra in New York. What People Are Saying About Peter Bay . . ."On the podium…Bay's a real sparkplug, with a sure stick and plenty of command." "It was a performance in which every note seemed thought through, every phrase had a shape, and nothing was overlooked."
"In his two years with the orchestra [Austin Symphony], the ambitious Bay has taken plenty of risks, usually with admirable results."
"It's also clear from this performance that Bay has energized and inspired this orchestra."
"…alert direction from the podium,…confident cueing and careful attention to matters of dynamics and balance…"
"Bay has shown himself to be meticulously thorough in how he plots the orchestra's itinerary through a piece of music."
"Maestro Bay and the orchestra performed masterfully."
"In a piece like this [Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony], it's good to have a conductor as alert and passionate as Bay. ... No wonder the audience rose to its feet. Russia never sounded so good."
"In just his third concert as the Austin Symphony's music director, Peter Bay showed a fresh approach to programming. ... Bay's handling of the orchestra was sensible and exciting, and he did a remarkable job of scaling the dynamics without losing excitement."
"...Bay reinforced the first impressions that he is the one to to energize the orchestra and its audience..."
"...it was a joy to hear how well the orchestra and chorus worked together under the skilled, stylistically adept conducting of Peter Bay."
"Bay and the orchestra gave it [Respighi's Vetrate di Chiesa] a vivid and enjoyable interpretation. With such an auspicious beginning to Bay's tenure as music director, one can expect next season's concerts to be both interesting and exciting."
"Bay captured the symphony's [Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1] nuances and imbued the piece with his own quick and energetic interpretation. In the final movement, he controlled the tension and power inherent in the score and channeled it through the orchestra.
"For once we got to hear a Messiah performed with a genuine subtlety of sound and grace of line that returned a quiet spirituality to the score. Bay has reproduced a masterpiece.
"All of this would have been a bit much, if the playing, led by associate conductor Peter Bay had not been so vital and polished."
"Bay's sharp ear and the musicians' sensitive care for tempo and intonation made Haydn's [Symphony No. 22] unusual opening slow movement both cozy and assertive with some of the best wind playing we ever hear in this neck of the woods."
"It [Copland's Appalachian Spring] was a polished performance, full of joy and grandeur, the kind of music-making that lets you fall in love with a work all over again."
"Bay showed easy command of the orchestra throughout the evening and a clear understanding of the diverse works he had chosen. ...he drew highly emotive playing from the orchestra."
"Bay not only led the symphony [Corigliano's Symphony No. 1] like he'd known it for years, keeping the vast number of musicians precisely in check; he also gave the piece everything he had emotionally."
"Brilliant interpretation and sensitive phrasing demonstrated an exceptional level of communication between the conductor and players."
"Peter Bay's bravura style fits this work [Neilsen's Symphony No. 3] like choreography, and the orchestra, as well, expanded to fill in every corner of this vast work."
"Perfection in performance, a light and airy tempo for the undanceable minuet, and an exact stick for the presto finale brought solid applause from the house and praise from many patrons for the best Haydn heard here in years."
"Conductor Bay communicates with concise, expressive body
language and hand motions, making the baton almost irrelevant. His
interpretations had much to do with the success of this concert."
© Lois Howard & Associates
Inc. All rights reserved. |
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