James Meena

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James Meena
General Director and Principal Conductor of Opera Carolina

James Meena conducting a December 2007 music rehearsal of the Opera Carolina Chorus for the company's 2008 production of Aida.
Born 1951
Residence Charlotte, North Carolina
Alma mater Carnegie Mellon University
Occupation Opera conductor and Administrator
Years active 1980-Present
Agent Bernard Uzan, Uzan International Artist

James Meena (born 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator.[1] Formerly the General Director and Principal Conductor of Toledo Opera in Ohio, since 2000 he has been the General Director and Principal Conductor of Opera Carolina, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Early life and education

Meena was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of an Antiochian Orthodox priest who had also studied composition and wrote three hymnals as well as translating Tchaikovsky's Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom into English. He spent his childhood in Los Angeles and Pittsburgh before returning to Cleveland when his father became pastor of the St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church there.[2][3] Meena did his undergraduate studies at Baldwin Wallace College Conservatory of Music, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1973, and then taught music for three years in Cleveland's high schools as well as singing in the Cleveland Symphony Chorus. He studied conducting with Robert Page, the chorus's Director and a professor at Carnegie Mellon University where Meena received his Master of Fine Arts in conducting in 1978. When Page became Director of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh in September 1979, he hired Meena as his assistant.[3] He also studied conducting with Thomas Mihalak, who was Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony for six seasons; the opera conductor Rudolph Fellner; and Boris Halip, a former conductor of the Bolshoi Ballet who had emigrated to Cleveland and with whom Meena also studied violin.[4]

Conducting career

Meena made his professional debut in 1980 when he conducted the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Haydn's The Creation. His operatic conducting debut came with a performance of The Magic Flute at Pittsburgh Opera where he was the chorus master and assistant conductor for several years as well as serving as the Music Director of the Pennsylvania Opera Festival.[5] He was subsequently appointed Music Director of the McKeesport Symphony Orchestra and the Three Rivers Training Orchestra, posts which he held until his appointment as General Director and Principal Conductor of Toledo Opera in 1986.[6] Meena's inaugural performance with Toledo Opera was a production of Carmen. In the first season of his directorship, the company actively engaged in outreach programs and increased its annual attendance 7,500 to 55,500.[7] He remained at Toledo Opera until 2000 when he took up an appointment as General Director and Principal Conductor of Opera Carolina.[8]

He has also had an active career as a guest conductor of opera and concerts both in the United States and abroad. He has conducted for Portland Opera, Opéra de Montréal,[9] Opera Lyra Ottawa, Orlando Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Pacific, Utah Opera[10] and Manitoba Opera, where in 2007 he conducted the world premiere of Victor Davies's opera Transit of Venus.[11] His concert appearances include performances with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra in South Korea, Winston-Salem Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra Regionale Toscana in Florence, and the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Sicily.

Meena's house debut at Opera Carolina was conducting Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. During his tenure as General Director at Opera Carolina, the company has had its first productions of Der Rosenkavalier, Nabucco, Macbeth, and Les pêcheurs de perles as well as performing the regional premieres of Carlisle Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree and Susannah. Opera Carolina under Meena broadcasts opera twice a year on National Public Radio. In addition to his work with Opera Carolina, Meena has continued his work as a guest conductor for other companies, including performances of Turandot for Arizona Opera's 2010/2011 season and a return to Toledo Opera for La traviata, the inaugural performance of the company's 2011/2012 season.[12]

Recordings

  • Charles Duvernoy: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra No. 3 (world premiere recording), François Devienne: Première Sonate in B flat, Jean Francaix: Tema con variazioni – Collaborative Arts Chamber Orchestra, James Meena (conductor). Koch International Classics CD 37186-2.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Press, Jaques Cattell (ed.) (1985). Who's Who in American Music: Classical, Volume 2, p. 395. R.R. Bowker Co. ISBN 0-8352-2074-5
  2. ↑ Macron, Mary Haddad (1979). Arab-Americans & Their Communities of Cleveland, p. 217. Cleveland State University
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Apone, Carl (12 August 1982). "Concert Winds Up Opera Workshop". The Pittsburgh Press
  4. ↑ Opera Carolina. Biography of James Meena
  5. ↑ Apone, Carl (26 July 1984). "Opera Workshop develops singers". The Pittsburgh Press
  6. ↑ The Pittsburgh Press (16 June 1986). "Meena gets Toledo opera post"
  7. ↑ Toledo Blade (9 October 1988). "Toledo Opera enjoying renaissance"
  8. ↑ Charlotte Observer (3 December 1999). "Opera Hires Director, Gets Conductor too" (subscription required)
  9. ↑ Kaptainis, Arthur (22 September 2003). "Quiet revolution: Bernard Labadie readies to set the tone and pace for L'Opera de Montreal". Opera Canada (subscription required)
  10. ↑ Stowe, Dorothy (13 May 1988). "Operas of Feuding Artists in Harmony Side-By-Side". The Deseret News
  11. ↑ Nemerofsky, Gwenda (26 November 2007). "Premiere lives up to high hopes". Winnipeg Free Press (subscription required)
  12. ↑ Vallongo, Sally (19 June 2011). "Toledo Opera, Act II: 'Scrappy little team' starts moving company forward". Toledo Blade. 
  13. ↑ Headington, Christopher (July 1995). [http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/July%201995//733005/CDC.+Duvernoy+Concerto+for+Clarinet+and+Orchestra+No.+3+in+E+flatb. "Review: "Duvernoy Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra No. 3 (Koch International Classics)"]. Gramophone Magazine

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