Gerard Floriano Bios for use in publicity materials
Orchestral Conducting
Maestro Gerard Floriano has conducted in many of America's premier concert halls, including NYC's Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, Baltimore's Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, as well as abroad in both Spain and Italy, most notably as Conductor at the prestigious Artist Alliance International Choral Festival in Vicenza, Italy. At one time Conducting Assistant to Maestro John Nelson with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Floriano has been Guest Conductor with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, the Finger Lakes Symphony, and he has spent many years at Brevard Summer Music Festival as Resident Conductor for this renowned orchestral training institute. His imagination and commitment to family programming includes original productions integrating music history with contemporary culture such as Music from Around the World and Hogwarts and The Time Traveler Rocks New Musical Frontiers. His reputation, as an innovator and an expert at training musicians of all ages, was recognized by the League of American Orchestras in 2004.
A conductor equally accomplished in the orchestral, choral, and operatic arenas, Dr. Floriano was founding Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Rochester Opera Factory. He is now in his fourth season as Co-Artistic Director of Mercury Opera Rochester. Also in the Western New York region, he has led the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra with ambitious domestic and international tours for nine seasons, welcomed by rave reviews. Dr. Floriano has been Associate Conductor of the Eastman Philharmonic Orchestra, Conductor of the Transylvania Youth Orchestra, and was given a spotlight at the MENC's 50th Anniversary Conference conducting the All Eastern Conference Orchestra. He has also directed honors festivals in states as diverse as California, Illinois, Montana, and New York.
A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, he has received conducting fellowships at the Aspen Summer Music Festival and the Oregon Bach Festival. Past Director of Choral Activities at Memphis State University, Gerard Floriano is Associate Professor of Conducting and Director of Choral Activities at the State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo where he was recently honored with the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activity.
Opera/Choral
Dr. Gerard Floriano is a regular guest conductor in Europe, directing productions in Krakow, Warsaw, Prague, Barcelona, Florence, Rome, Vienna, Salzburg and Leipzig. His expertise ranges from opera to American Musical Theatre, including performances of over 25 full length operas including Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, Die Fledermaus, La Boheme, Il Tritico, Don Pasquale, L’Elisir d’Amore, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Die Zauberflöte and The Tender Land as well as Amahl and the Night Visitors, Show Boat, and Candide. In addition, Dr. Floriano was invited to write an article on Jerome Kern for an upcoming edition of the Encyclopedia of Broadway and American Culture. Floriano's colleagues respect the inspiring musical standards and exacting rehearsal efficiency that he brings to the podium. As an accomplished orchestral conductor who has worked extensively with singers, he possesses a keen understanding of the instrumental challenges and vocal demands of opera, enabling him to get exceptional results from the performers. Writing about a recent production, Rochester "Democrat & Chronicle" music critic John Pitcher wrote “Floriano proved to be nothing less than a virtuoso conductor… He led his fine orchestra with color, precision and a welcome degree of sweep... ushering in a New Age of Opera” in Western New York.
A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Gerard Floriano began his career as Director of Choral Activities at Memphis State University, and is currently Professor of Conducting and Director of Choral Activities at the State University of New York at Geneseo where he received the coveted SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activity. His conducting positions have included fellowships at the Aspen Summer Music Festival and the Oregon Bach Festival, Resident Conductor at the Brevard Music Center, and Artistic Director of the Rochester Opera Factory. Since 2005, he has been Co-Artistic Director of Mercury Opera Rochester, a company he co-founded to bring the best in professional opera to Western New York.
