Jay Meetze

      Jay D. Meetze (born Jason Duane Meetze; August 2, 1973 in Flint, Michigan) is an American conductor, impresario, producer and teacher. This is his 13th season as Artistic Director and Music Director of the Opera Company of Brooklyn, also known as OCB.

      Maestro Jay Meetze (pronounced Mets) is lauded for his “passionate and undeniably impressive command of performances” and “sympathetic leadership of the forces of the OCB.” (Opera News). Meetze’ innovative vision for opera is featured on the Jeopardy quiz show, Good Morning America with MythBusters, CNN’s Tips from the Top, ZDF (German Public TV), other favorable and numerous coverage include radio: National Public Radio’s Day to Day, American Public Media’s Marketplace, 1010WINS (AM), WNYC’s Soundcheck and Overnight Music, and reviews and articles (some front-page and full-page) in: Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Daily News and NY Post newspapers, New York, Life, American Record Guide, Opera News Magazine, Crain’s New York Business-Crain Communications, Classical Singer Magazine, Frommer’s and two arts administration books.

      Metropolitan Opera’s “Opera News” magazine named his CD “TOP 10 OF THE YEAR” and “CRITIC’S CHOICE,” recorded on Albany Records and features music by and with Thomas Pasatieri, whose many film orchestrations include "Finding Nemo", Road to Perdition, American Beauty, The Little Mermaid, The Shawshank Redemption, Fried Green Tomatoes, Legends of the Fall, Thomas Newman's Angels in America and Scent of a Woman, among many others. The CD has Pasatieri’s most famous opera Signor Deluso and his newly rewritten La Divina, sung by San Francisco Opera Center’s Director Sheri Greenawald, MSM’s Ashley Putnam and several young artists selected by Meetze and Pasatieri.

      Recently Meetze made his guest conducting debut in Connecticut, Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra, Southern Arizona Opera Company and New York Lyric Opera Theatre (NYLOT) at Symphony Space. He conducted Tosca and Dido and Aeneas with Barnard-Columbia Chamber Choir and Opera Company of Brooklyn (OCB), a partnership between Barnard College and Columbia University at Union Theological Seminary, two performances of Carmen (one with NYLOT and the other with OCB) and Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Midori and Friends for public school students in Chinatown and in Queens. Other performances: L'elisir d'amore at DiMenna Center and, The Magic Flute at Long Island School for the Gifted, Christ and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and The First Street Gallery, Pagliacci, Suor Angelica, Die Entführung aus dem Serail in a penthouse overlooking Lincoln Center as part of an OCB fundraiser that sold out weeks in advance and Roméo et Juliette in Times Square.

      Supporters/colleagues include NYC Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Richard Tucker Music Foundation President Barry Tucker, Alfred Hubay, conductors Joseph Rescigno, William Hicks, Steven Jarvi, Forbidden Broadway creator Gerard Alessandrini, directors Francesca Zambello, Ira Siff, Rhoda Levine and Ned Canty, and singers Lucine Amara, Martina Arroyo, Harolyn Blackwell, Simon Estes, Kelly Kaduce, Elaine Malbin, Frederica Von Stade. Past supporters: Betty Allen, Lorenzo Malfatti, Anna Moffo, Charles Riecker, conducting mentors James Lee, Gerhard Samuel and Richard Woitach.

      Meetze received his Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati on a full scholarship and Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Michigan State University. He made his professional debut in 1992 and has performed across the US, Israel, Italy, Austria, England and Germany. From a musical family, his first instrument was the trumpet, next he added the piano. By the seventh grade he was playing for Veterans of Foreign Wars, Fraternal Order of Eagles and in churches with his father and brother. Other instruments he learned and played included: harpsichord, horn, organ, saxophones, xylophone and voice. Other conducting teachers: Gustav Meier, Peter Oundjian, Dr. Jonathan Reed and Christopher Zimmerman. Meetze taught and conducted with Manhattan School of Music and the school systems of New York City, Chicago and East Lansing and Grand Blanc, Michigan.

      Press

      • Professionals and students study Meetze' OCB in two new books:
        • Arts and Cultural Programming: A Leisure Perspective by Gaylene Carpenter, Doug Blandy
        • Performing Arts Management: A Handbook of Professional Practices by Tobie S. Stein and Jessica Bathurst.
      • Francesca Zambello - "I support and applaud the OCB efforts and am grateful you are there making a small dent in creating a thirst for an audience of now and the future."
      • New York Times - "On Saturday the cast offered much to enjoy."
      • American Record Guide Magazine - "This was a new experience, and I'm glad I had it."
      • New York Post - "This 'Flute', with minimum trappings and a futuristic setting suggested by slide projections, was a game and often witty theatrical effort, occasionally over the top, but endearing for its shoestring effort. Some good voices were on display."
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      Reviews

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      Collaborations/Venues

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      External links

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      References

      1. ^ http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/01/30/alternative-operas-bring-perspective-stage
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      Last modified on 29 March 2013, at 22:53