Conductors

Jeffrey Silberschlag Conductor

Jeffrey Silberschlag has distinguished himself in the world of music, performing as a conductor and trumpet soloist with leading orchestras  throughout Europe, the United States, Russia, China, Japan, and Israel.  His performances have been described as “compelling” by Germany’s Kölnische Rundschau; “extraordinary” by Italy’s L’Arena; and “outstanding” by Fanfare magazine. 
           
Mr. Silberschlag has recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Czech Radio Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, and the Maryland Bach Aria group.  

            He celebrates New Year’s Day 2008, directing a gala concert of Mozart with famed Italian pianist soloist Bruno Canino and the Orchestra of Piemonte in Northern Italy’s 13th Century Cathedral “San Domenico”.  And, 2008 sees the inaugural season of the new Music Conservatory based in Alba Italy that he directs.  The conservatory which is the product of the Alba Music Festival and St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s relationship, partners with the Geneva Conservatory, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama -Glasgow, Trossingen Hochschule, the University of the Performing Arts –Kyoto to provide talented students an  international education that blends the best of the European and American systems . January 2008, will also bring the release on Albany Records of his recording of Boris Blacher’s  Chamber Opera, Romeo and Juliet

Highlights of Maestro Silberschlag’s 2006/2007 season include his performances with State Symphony of Romania of Bacau which were part of the celebration of Romania’s entrance into the EU.  In May, he directed I Virtuosi della Teatro alla Scala  (principal players drawn from Milano’s famous La Scala Orchestra)  and the Romanian Symphony of Arad  at Italy’s Alba Music Festival.  Also in 2007, Mr. Silberschlag founded a series of international master classes that are offered as part of the River Concert Series music festival.   Artists from the Chicago Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Zurich Opera, Italian National Symphony, among prominent soloists such as Giuseppe Nova, Brian Granz, and Orlando Roman will come to Maryland.

Mr. Silberschlag is currently music director and conductor of the Chesapeake Orchestra and River Concert Series.  Now in its tenth season, the River Concert Series has engaged and entertained over 350,000 concert goers in its annual season of seven summer concerts.    In addition, he is co-director of the USA-Italy MusicFestivalheld in Alba, Italy.  The Alba music Festival produces over fifty concerts from May through August bringing to the Piemonte region of Italy, international orchestras and renowned soloists, together with aspiring young artists.

Mr. Silberschlag has also appeared as the guest conductor of Orchestra Filharmonici di Torino and with the Symphony Orchestra of Romania on tour in Sicily.  He led the “Orchestra di Tre Mondi” in concerts in Beijing, Shanghai, and Dalian, China and recorded with the London Philharmonic  at St. Luke’s.  In addition, Mr. Silberschlag conducted the Italian National Opera Orchestra in Italy and appeared in Tokyo and Kyoto.

Maestro Silberschlag collaborated which such soloists as Francesco De Angelis, José Cueto, Mikhail Gantwarg, Hilary Hahn, Yi Jia Hou, and Lara St. John (violinists);  Sandro Laffranchini (Cellist); Maria Kanyova (Mimi in NYC Opera’s “La Bohème” as seen on “Live from Lincoln Center”);  Tonna Miller (Metropolitan Opera soprano); Maxym Anakushin, Leon Bates,  Bruno Canino, Brian Ganz, and Boris Slutsky (pianists); John Wallace (trumpet);  Giuseppe Nova and Yoshimi Oshima (flutists); Catrin Finch and Gwyneth Wetink (harpists); Judy Blazer (Broadway vocalist); Vonda Shepard (blues vocalist); Ethel Ennis  and Jane Monheit (Jazz vocalists) and Terrence Blanchard (Jazz Trumpet).  In addition, Mr. Silberschlag has combined musical genres by blending orchestra performances with such artists as Blues guitarist Linwood Taylor, the Paul Reed Smith Dragons, the No Class Today Bluegrass Band, and the Brazilian band, Grupo Saveiro.  

Mr. Silberschlag also recorded William Thomas McKinley’s “And the Presidents Said” with narrator Ben Bradlee (Vice President of the Washington Post) and the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studio.  In a recent “Fanfare” review of the recording, Mr. Silberschlag was lauded as “a virtuoso trumpeter par excellence (whose) conducting is equally praise worthy.”

Mr. Silberschlag has performed a wide range of repertoire from the works of Bach through Mahler and Strauss.  He has also been a champion of new music premiering works of such prize winning composers as Lou Karchin, David Froom, Scott Wheeler, Chou Wen-Chung, Jaan Raats, Chen Yi, William Thomas Mckinley, Philip Glass, Lorenzo Ferrero,  Ludovico Einaudi, Vivian Adleberg Rudow, Kenji Bunch,  Elliot Mckinley, Paul Chihara, Judith Shatin, Jeffrey Mumford and he has revived important works by American composers Morton Gould, Charles Griffes, William Schuman, and George Whitefield Chadwick.

Jeffrey Silberschlag has been a prominent trumpet performer on the international music circuit since he was eighteen.  He has recorded as trumpet soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Czech Radio Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, and the Maryland Bach Aria Group.  His next recording is with the Toronto Chamber Orchestra for Naxos.  Mr. Silberschlag has held principal trumpet positions with the Italian National Symphony RAI-Tornino; Jerusalem Symphony; and the New York City Opera-National Company.  A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, Mr. Silberschlag studied with such trumpet icons as William Vacchiano, Gerard Schwarz, Pierre Thibaud, and Robert Nagel.  Many composers have dedicated works to him, including William Thomas McKinley, Paul Chihara, Morton Gould, Loreno Ferrero, Robert Hall Lewis, Ludavico Einaudi, James Cohn, David MacBride, Leo Eylar, Roger Davidson, John Carbon, and his colleague at St. Mary’s College, David Froom. 
           
A faculty member since 1988, Mr. Silberschlag serves as artistic director and head of music performance at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and holds the Steven Muller Distinguished Professor of the Arts, Chair.  Additionally, he is now Artist-in-Residence of the Maryland Youth Symphony.