Artist-in-Resident | UCO Symphony Orchestra In his second season as Artist-in-Resident with the UCO Symphony and seventh season as Music Director of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Conductor Alexander Mickelthwate ’s exciting musical programming has created a buzz across the city, drawing people from all walks of life to the
concert hall. Originally from Germany Mickelthwate is also Music Director of the Bear Valley Music Festival in California and Music Director Emeritus of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in Canada. Born and raised in Frankfurt, Germany, Mickelthwate grew up in a home filled with classical music. Highlights of his undergraduate studies in Karlsruhe Germany included singing in a magical Brahms German Requiem in the cathedral of Strasbourg. His graduate studies at the Peabody Institute of Music of Johns Hopkins University were highlighted by his mentor, Maestro Frederic Prausnitz. He also studied at Tanglewood, the prestigious summer festival of the Boston Symphony under Andre Previn, Seji Ozawa and Robert Spano. Mickelthwate has embraced Oklahoma City and its rich and colorful tapestry. Artistically, he is interweaving classical masterworks with contemporary story telling. He has programmed several concerts with Native American themes, and has created some touching tributes to our city’s history. The Maestro led the commissioning of a special piece for the 25th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing and an original work celebrating the centennial of civil rights icon Clara Luper. This season he commissioned “American Indian Symphony” by Chickasaw composer Jerod Tate, celebrating First Americans in Oklahoma. Mickelthwate was always passionate about the next generations. He taught conducting at the University of Winnipeg and Kennesaw State University,
Atlanta. At UCO Mickelthwate made it a point to connect artistically with different parts of the university, from the Jazz Lab to students of fine arts and design to our choir. He re-initiated the UCO Young Soloist Competition and performed with the UCO Symphony in Ada and Durant. Since his arrival in Oklahoma, Mickelthwate has received numerous awards and honors, including being twice-named “The Face of Music” by 405 Magazine. Newspaper OKC Friday named him one of the “Top 50 Most Powerful,” and the Ladies Music Club of Oklahoma City lauded him “Musician of the Year.” In North America Alexander has guest conducted the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Atlanta Symphony and Toronto Symphony, among many others. His European debut was with the Hamburg Symphony. He also conducted the BBC London, Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, Royal Scottish, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and NDR Hannover. Other notable performances include the Sao Paulo Symphony and the Simon Bolivar Orchestra in Venezuela. He made his Australia debut with the Adelaide Symphony and the Tasmania Orchestra where he recorded the Mozart piano concerti Nos. 7 and 10 with the Silber Garburg Duo. Alexander Mickelthwate has worked with Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Yuja Wang, Dawn Upshaw, Plácido Domingo, Ben Heppner, Horatio Gutiérrez, Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos and Sarah Chang, among many others, and he worked very closely with a wide range of composers including Phil Glass, Steve Reich, Sofia Gubaidulina, Kaija Saariaho, John Adams, John Luther Adams and Mason Bates. Before his music directorship with the Winnipeg Symphony Maestro Mickelthwate worked as Associate Conductor for the LA Philharmonic and Assistant Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony. He lives with his two sons in Oklahoma City.
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