Date: July 9, 2015
by Ivan C. Smith
Location: Ohio, USA
Choir Type: Professional Choir
Nationally recognized choral conductor, composer/arranger and choral music educator Stephen Caracciolo has been appointed artistic director of the Lancaster (OH) Chorale.
Dr. Caracciolo is assistant professor of Music in Choral Conducting at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). Recognized for his passionate artistry and creative teaching, he instructs conducting, voice and choral related courses, and is also director of the Camerata Chamber Choir, a select choir drawn from all majors at the university, which performs a wide variety of compositions ranging from Renaissance motets to contemporary works. He has been guest conductor at the Capital University NOW Music Festival and the Conservatorio Giuseppe Nicolini in Piacenza, Italy.
In 1994, Caracciolo founded BelCanto Singers, a professional performing arts organization in Columbus dedicated to chamber choral music. BelCanto Singers met with public praise and critical acclaim.
An extensively published composer, Caracciolo is a recipient of the prestigious Individual Artist’s Fellowship in Composition from the Greater Columbus Arts Council. Among his many compositions are: “Come Unto Me All Ye That Labour” (commissioned by Lancaster Chorale), “Adore Te Devote,” “There Is No Rose of Such Virtue,” “A Song of Creation,” and “Ubi Caritas.” His choral works have been performed and recorded extensively throughout the United States and Europe; they are frequently heard on syndicated radio broadcasts, including the well-known Sunday program, With Heart and Voice.
Caracciolo is also a professional choral singer. He has performed masterworks with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Julliard School Orchestra, Indiana University Orchestra, and the American Symphony under the batons of Robert Shaw, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Kurt Masur, Erich Kunzel, and James Levine. He currently performs as a professional bass at Washington National Cathedral, where he also serves as a substitute conductor for liturgies.
Caracciolo received the Bachelor of Music Education degree from Capital University Conservatory of Music in 1985; the Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College in 1992, and the Doctor of Music in Choral Conducting from Indiana University Jacob School of Music in 2008.
Lancaster Chorale’s 30th season will open with A New Song, a performance featuring ancient texts clothed in innovative sound, at 4:00 pm on Sunday, October 11, 2015 at historic St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Lancaster. A highlight of the program will be the world premiere of Patrick Hawes’ Psalm 91, commissioned by Lancaster Chorale in recognition of Robert Trocchia and his extraordinary contributions to Lancaster Chorale during his twenty-eight years as artistic director.
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