Jun 9, 2020
Show Notes:
Stella's Magical Musical Balloon Ride
Robert Franz Bio:
Acclaimed conductor, Robert Franz, recognized as "an outstanding musician with profound intelligence," has held to three principles throughout his career: a commitment to the highest artistic standards, to creating alliances and building bridges in each community he serves, and a dedication to being a strong force in music education. As Music Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra and Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Orchestra, Associate Conductor of the Houston Symphony, and newly appointed Artistic Advisor of the Boise Baroque Orchestra, he has achieved success through his focus on each of these principles.
His appeal as a first-rate conductor and enthusiastic award-winning educator is acclaimed by critics, composers, and audiences of all ages. Composer Bright Sheng praised Franz for his "extremely musical and passionate approach towards music making." Franz is in increasing demand as a guest conductor, whose upcoming and recent engagements include appearances with orchestras in Austin, Buffalo, Fort Worth, Winston-Salem, Reno, and Opera Idaho. Additional recent guest conducting appearances include the Cleveland Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, and Italy's Orchestra da Camera Fiorentinas. Franz is equally comfortable and effective coaching more than 50 student orchestras each season. His versatility has led to collaborations with a wide array of artists, including James Galway, Joshua Bell, Rachel Barton Pine, Chris Botti, Idina Menzel, and Judy Collins. An eloquent speaker, Franz recently presented a TEDx Talk entitled Active Listening and Our Perception of Time.
In his eighth season as Music Director with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Franz was recognized by the Windsor Endowment for the Arts with its Arts Leadership Award. Highlights of the 2019/2020 season include a presentation of Madama Butterfly in concert and Canadian composer Tobin Stokes' Symphony No. 3 'The Piper.' Recent collaborations include the Windsor International Film Festival, Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor Public Library, Canadian Historical Aviation Association, and the University of Windsor.
Franz serves as Artistic Director of the Boise Baroque Orchestra, which will include collaborations with Opera Idaho in a semi-staged performance of Handel's Acis and Galatea featuring Grammy Award winning tenor, Karim Sulayman, the Boise the High School Chamber Orchestra and the Boise Philharmonic Master Chorale. Under his leadership, the orchestra will undertake its first ever commercial recording project of Classical Oboe Concerti for Centaur Records featuring rising star oboist Bhavani Kotha.
This season Franz celebrates his 13th year as Associate Conductor of the Houston Symphony where he was recently honored as the first member of the orchestra conducting staff with the Raphael Fliegel Award for Visionary Leadership. It was presented to him in recognition of his immense success in advancing the organization's education and community engagement activities.
As Founder and Music Director of the Idaho Orchestra Institute, now in its fourth year, Franz takes young musicians on an exploration of major orchestral repertoire that explores the complete musician.
In addition to his current posts, Franz served as Music Director of the Boise Philharmonic from 2008-2016, and the Mansfield Symphony (OH) from 2003-2010. When not on the podium he can be found on the slopes, skiing slowly and carefully, stretching in a yoga class, and non-competitively trying his hardest to win at a game of cards with his family.
Afternoon Ti
Instagram - @highafternoonti
Intro/Outro Music
Our Big Adventure by Scott Holmes