Alexander Platt
Encyclopedia
Alexander Platt is an American symphony orchestra conductor. He is the Resident Conductor and Music Advisor for Chicago Opera Theater
and is presently the Music Director for Maverick Concerts, the Wisconsin Philharmonic, the Marion Indiana Philharmonic, The La Crosse Symphony Orchestra and the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra
. He has conducted or guest conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany and Canada.
.
and Tanglewood
. He received a British Marshall Scholarship to attend King’s College Cambridge and as a conductor of the Cambridge University Opera Society he led a revival of Britten’s neglected Owen Wingrave. He made his professional debut at the Aldeburgh Festival and his London debut at the Wigmore Hall. During that time he reconstructed the lost chamber version of the Mahler Fourth Symphony, which has gone on to become a classic of the repertoire.
Chicago Opera Theater
The Chicago Opera Theater is an opera company that was founded as the Chicago Opera Studio in 1974 by Alan Stone to give vocal students performance experience, although it has grown into a professional opera company...
and is presently the Music Director for Maverick Concerts, the Wisconsin Philharmonic, the Marion Indiana Philharmonic, The La Crosse Symphony Orchestra and the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra
Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra
The Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra is a community orchestra based in Grand Forks, North Dakota that began operation in 1908. One of only eighteen American Orchestras to have surpassed their centennial year, the symphony employs local and regional musicians in performances of classical and...
. He has conducted or guest conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany and Canada.
Professional career
Beginning with apprentice conductor assignments with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Opera, Alexander Platt went on to conduct the Marion Indiana Philharmonic, the Waukesha Symphony Orchestra and the Racine Symphony Orchestra. In 1997 he made a debut with Chicago Opera Theater conducting Mozart's Don Giovanni and was appointed resident conductor and music advisor in 2000. Over the following decade he led Chicago premieres of such challenging 20th-century masterworks as John Adams' Nixon in China, Britten’s Death in Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream; the Chicago stage premiere of Schoenberg's Erwartung; and the world premiere recording of Kurka's The Good Soldier Schweik. He was recently selected as the 13th conductor of the La Crosse Symphony and appointed the music director at the Greater Grand Forks Symphony OrchestraGreater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra
The Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra is a community orchestra based in Grand Forks, North Dakota that began operation in 1908. One of only eighteen American Orchestras to have surpassed their centennial year, the symphony employs local and regional musicians in performances of classical and...
.
Education
Alexander Platt was a research scholar for the National Endowment for the Humanities before entering college. He was educated at Yale University and a conducting fellow at AspenAspen Music Festival and School
The Aspen Music Festival and School, founded in 1949, is an internationally renowned classical music festival that presents music in an intimate, small-town setting...
and Tanglewood
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.- History...
. He received a British Marshall Scholarship to attend King’s College Cambridge and as a conductor of the Cambridge University Opera Society he led a revival of Britten’s neglected Owen Wingrave. He made his professional debut at the Aldeburgh Festival and his London debut at the Wigmore Hall. During that time he reconstructed the lost chamber version of the Mahler Fourth Symphony, which has gone on to become a classic of the repertoire.