Winston Dan Vogel
Winston Dan Vogel is an American conductor, born in Israel.
Vogel was the musical director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra from 1986 to 1990. As of 2006 he is president of Opera USA, a non-profit organization which encourages young talents in the field of vocal performance.
He has distinguished himself on six continents as a dynamic conductor, forceful orchestra builder, imaginative program creator, composer and effective lecturer. As past music director and conductor of both the Virginia Symphony and the Shore Festival of Classics in New Jersey, his dedicated leadership, popularity and unanimous critical acclaim have increased box-office sales and markedly augmented attendance. First Prize winner of the prestigious Malko Competition in Denmark and prize-winner in Rome's Santa Cecilia Competition, the Cantelli Competition in Milan and Citta di Sorrento International Competition, Maestro Vogel has conducted symphony orchestras, opera, ballet and choirs throughout the world with leading stars including Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham, Lynn Harrell, Rudolf Firkushny, Janos Starker, Roberta Peters, Tito Gobbi, Andre-Michel Schub, Mikhail Barishnikov and Rudolf Nureyev.
In recent years he has conducted in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Hungary, Lithuania, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Italy, Colombia, Costa Rica, Japan, China, Russia and the UK and his first three CDs of Italian, Swiss and American music were released on the Dynamic and VDE-Gallo labels. Maestro Vogel holds degrees in piano and conducting from the Israel Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, the Juilliard School and Mannes College of Music in New York and a Master's Degree from Ball State University in Indiana. He has studied with Markevitch, Ferrara, Lert, Bamberger, Fournet and Morel and has participated in conducting seminars in Salzburg, Asilomar, Lugano, Hilversum, Siena and Monte Carlo. At the invitation of the American-Israeli Cultural Foundation Vogel returned to his native Israel to conduct the Israel National Opera and subsequently became the conductor of the Haifa Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic Choir and the Kibbutz Artzi Choir with which he toured Europe.
In Europe, Winston Vogel also held the positions of Kapellmeister of the Mainz Opera and Director of the Mainz Singakademie in Germany, and conductor of Het Nederlands Dans Theater in Holland. Maestro Vogel is the founder, President and Artistic Director of Opera USA, a Trustee of the Bergen Museum where he is also Artistic Director of the Mastodon Music Society and its Music Programs.
Vogel has also held other positions, such as principal conductor of the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the assistant conductor of the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (later renamed the Minnesota Orchestra), and Kapellmeister in Mainz Staatskapelle.
External links
- Opera USA - A non-profit organization for the promotion of performing artists worldwide. Free membership includes an artist profile and exposure via directory listings and search results.
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