Music Director,

Artistic Director,

Robert Moody has served as Music Director for the Winston-Salem Symphony (North Carolina) since 2005, Artistic Director for Arizona Musicfest since 2007 and Music Director for the Portland Symphony Orchestra (Maine) since 2008.

This year marks the 5th anniversary of Maestro Moody's tenure with the Winston-Salem Symphony. He is the fourth Music Director in the orchestra's 63 year history. Unprecedented success has been the hallmark of this tenure, including the creation of Pops, "Kicked-Back Classics," Discovery, Side-by-Side, and Handel's Messiah concert series. Under his tenure the orchestra has also taken the Winston-Salem Youth Orchestras program completely under its umbrella, hired a full-time Assistant Conductor, and performed a first ever joint Classics concert with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. These performances of R. Strauss' Ein Heldenleben were strongly praised by critics, audience, and orchestra alike. The WSS is quickly becoming one of the real "gem" regional orchestras in the country; which led the League of American Orchestras immediate past President Henry Fogel to pronounce the Winston-Salem Symphony "one of the very healthiest orchestras" he has visited in his three-year tenure leading A.S.O.L. (As of this writing, WSS has also completed six successive seasons "in the black" financially.). Moody ended an electrifying first season in Portland with the great Bartok Concerto for Orchestra.

Robert Moody serves as Artistic Director of Arizona Musicfest, the nation's premiere winter destination music festival, held in north Scottsdale, Carefee, Cave-Creek, and through the Arizona Desert Foothills region. The Musicfest Festival Orchestra consists of members of some of the nation's top orchestras (Chicago, Detroit, National Symphonies, The Cleveland and Metropolitan Opera Orchestras, and many more). Maestro Moody leads this orchestra in four orchestral concert programs each February. Highlights of the 2009 season included performances of Brahms Symphony No. 1, Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem with the AZMusicfest Festival Chorus, and Dvorak Cello Concerto with Lynne Harrell.

Moody served as Associate, then Resident Conductor of The Phoenix Symphony (AZ) from 1998 through 2006. There he conducted a wide variety of concerts, including Classics, Chamber, Pops, Family, Handel's Messiah, and New Year's Eve gala. His casual manner and ability to speak with ease from the podium helped novices and enthusiasts alike gain a greater appreciation for orchestral music. Moody also founded The Phoenix Symphony Chorus, and for seven years was Music Director of the Phoenix Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Prior to Phoenix, Maestro Moody served as Associate Conductor for the Evansville (IN) Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director (and founder) of the Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, conductor for the Interschool Orchestras of New York (in Manhattan) and apprentice conductor for the Landestheater Opera House in Linz.

Born and raised in Greenville, SC, Moody took up the cello in the public school system in the 4th grade. His voice and cello studies throughout high school (including three years of study at the Greenville County Fine Arts Center - one of the first public high schools for the arts in the nation) took him to Furman University, where he received a Bachelor's Degree in Church Music, with performing emphasis in both voice and cello. He then completed his Master of Music degree in conducting at the Eastman School of Music where he studied with Donald Neuen.

Moody is a frequent guest conductor with orchestras across the United States. In 2009 he completed a ten-year tenure as head of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic's "Discovery"concert series. Guest conducting appearances include the symphony orchestras of Houston, Indianapolis, Detroit, Seattle, Memphis, Ft. Worth, Virginia, San Antonio, Buffalo, Charleston, Naples, Anchorage, and many more. Summer festival appearances include Santa Fe Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Brevard Music Center, Eastern Music Festival, PortOpera, and Skaneateles Festival.

Maestro Moody has conducted many of the worlds top classical and pops artists in concert including Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Renee Fleming, Van Cliburn, Andre Watts, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Robert McDuffie, Lynne Harrell, The Canadian Brass, Doc Severinson, Celine Dion, The Manhattan Transfer, Martin Short, Chris Botti, Chris Thiele and many more.

A Champion of new music, Robert Moody is proud to have played an instrumental role in the commissioning and premiere performances of several important new works for orchestra. These include several works of composer Mason Bates (Free Variations for Orchestra, Ode, Rusty Air in Carolina, and a new work to be premiered on AZ Musicfest's 20th anniversary season in 2011) as well as the Sabar concerto for African Drum Ensemble and Orchestra, composed by James DeMars.

Moody's work can also be heard on three compact disc recordings: he collaborated with the Canadian Brass for their"Bach" and "Legends" CDs. He is also the conductor for the CD "4th World," highlighting the music of Native American recording artist R. Carlos Nakai (available on the Canyon Record label).

A strong believer in community growth and enrichment, Moody is a member of the Rotary Club of Winston-Salem, NC, and serves on the boards of the NW North Carolina YMCA, and AIDs Care Services of Forsyth County. When not making music, one is most likely to find Robert Moody snow-skiing, hiking, running, or involved in other outdoor activities. He was a founding member of The Phoenix Symphony Running Club, completed his first marathon in 2004, and participates annually in both the Mistletoe Half Marathon" in NC and the "Beach to Beacon" 10K in Maine.

Press

Reviews:
A Real Joy: Moody takes a Beethoven/Ferrari out for a drive
Concert Review: Portland Symphony Orchestra, Opening Night
Difficult Mahler proves a breeze for Moody and the Portland Symphony Orchestra
A Lot to Like: Singers, musicians shine in 'Requiem'
Director puts stamp on music festival
ECSTASY: Moody handles Mahler with skill

A Real Joy: Moody takes a Beethoven/Ferrari out for a drive

Journal Reporter
May 20, 2009
Ken Keuffel

When a conductor leads his first performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony ("Choral"), people often ask him to describe the experience. Robert Moody had a memorable answer after yesterday's presentation by the Winston-Salem Symphony.

"It felt like driving a Ferrari for the first time," he said. I was more than happy to be along for the ride. I urge you to get in the car for a repeat performance on Tuesday at the Stevens Center.

Moody has been involved in lots of other Ninth performances, as a cellist, as a chorus master and as an understudy for other conductors. This experience has paid off in his conducting role. Every measure abounds in energy, attention to detail and a reverence for the master who brought us joy forever but, being deaf by the time of the Ninth's premiere in 1824, sadly never heard a note of it himself.

Moreover, Moody has surrounded himself with a stellar cast, which includes not only the symphony but the many singers involved in the choral movement that concludes the Ninth. The solo vocalists include soprano Lisa Saffer, mezzo-soprano Rita Litchfield, tenor Tony Stevenson and bass Patrick Carfizzi.

The choristers, prepared expertly by Carole Ott, come courtesy of the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorale and the Cantata Singers of UNC School of the Arts. An added bonus, which appears in the program book, is an illuminating essay by David Levy, a leading Beethoven authority who teaches at Wake Forest University.

In a sense, three acts emerge in "Ode to Joy -- the Beethoven Ninth," which is the symphony's final "Classics" program of the season. The first act is an opening companion piece, Barber's Adagio for Strings. The second consists of the first three wholly instrumental movements of the Ninth Symphony, while the third combines the singers with the instrumentalists in the Ninth's finale.

The scheme works, in terms of logic and impact. It begins with a moment of mourning and ends with the most optimistic expression of hope in the ideals of universal brotherhood.

Every side of Beethoven's musical personality comes through in the middle -- drive, rowdiness, humor and unsurpassed beauty. There is something to admire in every act, particularly during the one in which singing is featured.

This Ninth is among the very best I have heard.

Portland Symphony Orchestra, Opening Night Oct 7

Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram
Oct 9, 2008
Christopher Hyde

The capacity audience at Merrill Auditorium on Tuesday night was rooting for the Portland Symphony Orchestra's new music director, Robert Moody, to triumph in his first official concert in that capacity.

Perhaps it was the unusual arrangement of the viola, brass and bass sections of the orchestra, but the opening piece, Dvorak's "Carnival" Overture, seemed fast and fragmented. It lacked the dynamic contrast that would have enhanced the more gentle "lovers' retreat" section. Still, it was an appropriately brilliant fanfare.

Ravel's orchestration of "Pictures at an Exhibition," in spite of the program notes, is not Mussorgsky but pure Ravel, straight from "L'enfant et les sortilges," which has been called the most beautiful music ever written. Moody's interpretation of it was right on, the effect ravishing and the performance a perfect illustration of the importance of live music.

I had never realized how much "The Tuileries" is an illustration of the court of Marie Antoinette, while the "Bydlo" that follows immediately a portrait of the tumbrel creaking toward the guillotine. The contrast is reiterated in the "Promenade" that follows. All of the orchestral sections gave fine performances, but John Schnell's high trumpet in "Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle" was outstanding.

After the final gigantic chords of the "Great Gate of Kiev," Moody and the orchestra received a long, foot-stamping standing ovation.

Christopher Hyde's Classical Beat column appears in the Maine Sunday Telegram.

Difficult Mahler proves a breeze for Moody and the Portland Symphony Orchestra

Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram
May 8, 2008
Christopher Hyde

The only problem with the Portland Symphony Orchestra concert Tuesday night at Merrill Auditorium was that the tremendous Mahler Symphony No. 1, aptly subtitled "The Titan," overshadowed two other fine renditions of contemporary and classical works.

Soon-to-be musical director Robert Moody has already shown what he can do with the orchestra, but Tuesday's performance, before a large and enthusiastic audience, took it to new heights. Moody's rearrangement of the cello and viola sections seemed to work well.

The Mahler First Symphony is one of my favorites, but I hadn't remembered just how spectacular it can be when played live. There is a percussion passage in the final climax that would blow out any speakers if played at full volume.

The last movement is all about climaxes. There are so many that in lesser hands it could become a comedy skit. However, Mahler and Moody make them so varied and inventive that one wishes the sequence of codas would never end.

The difficulty with endings shows why Mahler, like Beethoven in his Ninth Symphony, resorted to a chorus in his other symphonies and had a little talk with Sigmund Freud along the way.

Still, "The Titan" is one of the glories of the symphonic literature. Its funeral procession of the animals bearing the corpse of the hunter, to the tune of "Frere Jacques," is pure ironic delight, and its opening evocation of nature, complete with cuckoo calls, is a worthy homage to Beethoven's "Pastorale."

The orchestra was in great form for a work that is not only among the most difficult to play, but also affords no room for error. Any brass section in the world would prefer to perform this work in the privacy of the recording studio, but it also makes great demands on the woodwinds, strings and percussion, all of which were realized with flair, excitement and precision. The end of the symphony was met with a tumultuous standing ovation.

Moody also seemed thoroughly at home in a contemporary idiom, with "Phoenix for Orchestra," by Dan Locklair, which he commissioned and premiered for the Winston-Salem Symphony. The piece shows evidence of being a more lengthy rewrite of an earlier fanfare for organ, brass and percussion, but holds interest through a series of variations by means of textures so lush that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the orchestra and the pipe organ.

The classical period was represented by the Haydn Concerto in D Major for Violoncello and Orchestra, with Canadian soloist Denise Djokic. This work was written for a virtuoso, but the young cellist managed its significant difficulties with ease, and, more important, musicality. The concerto was as satisfying in its own way as the Mahler.

Christopher Hyde's Classical Beat column appears in the Maine Sunday Telegram. He can be reached at: classbeat@netscape.net

Read the original article here.

A Lot to Like: Singers, musicians shine in 'Requiem'

Journal Arts Reporter
March 10, 2008
Ken Keuffel

There were many moments to cherish during yesterday’s performance of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at the Stevens Center.

Take the one near the end of the piece, which was conducted superbly by Robert Moody.

Soprano Kelley Nassief provided it - despite being quite ill before and during the concert. She stood in front of the Winston-Salem Symphony’s musicians and choristers and sang the words “Libera me” with such beauty and fervor that “deliverance from eternal death” seemed unmistakable.

But this wasn’t just sublime music. It was also a prayer.

Nassief clenched her fist and lifted her eyes to the heavens when she sang it.

Deliverance arrived when the final notes of that most operatic of masses faded into the bliss of an extended silence.

But the idea of eternal death had remained a distinct theme during much of the afternoon performance.

It proclaimed itself three times in a jolting, loud and wrath-filled “Dies irae.”

Here, the chorus soared, fueled by a swirl of strings and the canon-like sounds of a thumping bass drum. The whole thing, while no longer the surprise it was on first hearing, was still terrifying and served as what mezzo-soprano Beth Clayton called “a nice warning.”

Clayton rounded out a fine quartet of solo vocalists, which, in addition to Nassief, included tenor Stuart Neill, a veteran of many Requiem performances, and baritone Philip Cutlip.

As a group, these singers achieved a felicitous blend - or shone in various and sundry ways as soloists.

Cutlip sang with authority and pleasing resonance, making that famous “Requiem” phrase an eternal delight. Clayton found an exciting theatricality, and Neill displayed a remarkable interpretive range, showcasing everything from daunting operatic power to the most engaging of pianissimos.

As for Moody, he has made no secret of the fact that he enjoys conducting works with a vocal component. I will make no secret of my joy in hearing what he’s doing with Requiem.

The chorus, prepared nicely by James Allbritten, has never sounded better. It consists of the symphony’s Chorale and the N.C. School of the Arts Cantata Singers.

And the orchestra - well, let’s just say that they’re playing Verdi’s famous score in a way that honors its many and varied details. That means everything from exquisitely lush fanfares in the brass to an array of lovely, subtle solos for wind instruments.

The work that Verdi wrote in memory of Alessandro Manzoni (1785-1873), a celebrated Italian poet and novelist, is satisfying in every way.

Director puts stamp on music festival

The Arizona Republic
Feb. 1, 2008
Kerry Lengel

It didn't take long for Bob Moody to put his stamp on Arizona Musicfest.

After eight years as the Phoenix Symphony's resident conductor, the popular maestro left the Valley in 2006 after accepting the top job with the Winston-Salem Symphony in North Carolina. But last year he returned as the new director of the northeast Valley's winter concert series.

Styled after such popular summer events as the Colorado Music Festival - which, by the way, is headed up by the Phoenix Symphony's top baton, Michael Christie - Arizona Musicfest has grown steadily since it began in 1992. But Moody's first year was its best yet, with 7,400 tickets sold for 13 concerts, an increase of 19 percent over 2006.

"Last year we had something like 700 people throughout the festival who were first-time ticket buyers, and over 400 were from ZIP codes that hadn't come before," mainly from the West Valley, said Christine Warsaw, vice chair for the festival board.

Newcomers were probably drawn in by such top names as Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, the superstar violinist, as well as by Moody, a crowd favorite here and at other orchestras where he frequently guest-conducts.

The 2008 festival begins this week, with top billing going to pianist Andre Watts, jazzman John Pizzarelli and crossover stars the Ying Quartet.

With a mix of classical, jazz and show tunes, the series has always aimed at being eclectic, but Moody is pushing the envelope of diversity with such groups as Time for Three, a youthful string trio that blends classical repertoire with old-time fiddle music.

He takes a similar approach with the Festival Orchestra. For example, a "Gotta Dance!" concert ranges from Stravinsky's Firebird ballet suite to a chamber setting of Beatles songs performed by tenor John McVeigh.

"I don't worry about the monikers of 'classics' or 'pops' when it comes to programming," Moody says. "As the 21st century moves on, those lines blur. I think the day will come when a John Williams theme from Star Wars will be a fixture on a classics program just like a Wagner overture would be."

Moody also has injected the Festival Orchestra with fresh talent from major symphonies across the country, and this year he'll introduce a Festival Chorus. No coincidence here: It will feature many singers from the Phoenix Symphony Chorus, which Moody founded.

"There's a little bit more of a human touch with a choral concert," the conductor says. "It's the one instrument that all humans share, so an audience member can relate to it on a gut level in a way they might not to an oboe solo."

ECSTASY: Moody handles Mahler with skill

Journal Arts Reporter
March 5, 2007
Ken Keuffel

Robert Moody had just led the Winston-Salem Symphony in a magnificent performance of Mahler's Second Symphony ("Resurrection"). He was elated, but hardly spent after conducting nonstop for the better part of 80 minutes yesterday at the Stevens Center.

He seemed eager to talk. He took a microphone and answered several questions after the concert from audience members. At one point, he spoke about how pivotal Mahler's music had been in his life.

One important Mahler moment happened several years ago at Furman University, his alma mater, when he heard the late George Solti conduct the touring Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Mahler's Symphony No. 1. The whole, titanic thing made such an impression on Moody that "from then on, I knew I wanted to become a conductor."

This is more than just a piece of music. It is a monumental epic, using an exceptionally large orchestra to embrace a universe of sound. In it, one finds not only inspiration in uncommonly inspirational music but also a way to more profound spiritual truths.

When it came to the performance, that "something" can only be described as heavenly and eternal ecstasy, especially in the soaring and uplifting final measures. Moody conducted his first public performance of Mahler's Second. But you would never had known that from his command of the score.

The work's opening movement may sound familiar to seasoned fans. But as the symphony showed, it can still jolt the system. I'm referring to lots of elements: from all that percussion-flavored bombast in the brass to the sudden, explosive and highly rhythmic figures the strings deliver in the opening bars.

Excess here is a recipe for success. But so is a good feel for contrast, as when, for example the winds play exquisite solo and ensemble parts. Or when Mahler withholds the big bang by fading out with a few, almost whimsical bits of pizzicato.

Either an intense lyricism or a relaxed dance-like feel characterized the middle instrumental movements. They charmed more than they astonished.

I was impressed with skillful way in which everything was presented. English translations of the sung German text shined clearly on the back wall, and brass players moved about without a hitch (playing on stage and from different parts of the hall during "The Call").

An organist reinforced the glorious ending off stage, using a closed-caption television to get his cues. A picture of Mahler appeared as the musicians were tuning up - a nice, fitting way to begin things.

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