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Delta David Gier

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Delta David Gier
BornApril 3, 1960
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Awards2022 Ditson Conductor's Award
Websitehttps://www.deltadavidgier.com/

Delta David Gier (born April 3, 1960) is an American conductor. Gier is currently Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, following fifteen seasons with the New York Philharmonic as an Assistant Conductor. He has conducted most major orchestras in the United States and has worked extensively with orchestras across Central and South America, Europe, and Asia.

Gier has received national recognition as an advocate for both contemporary classical music and the role of local arts organizations in intercultural community building. In 2012, he was selected for ASCAP’s John S. Edwards Award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music[1] and in 2022 he received the Ditson Conductor’s Award for the advancement of American music.[2] In Columbia University’s presentation of the latter award, Gier is described as

a widely renowned conductor who is remarkable in his dedication to contemporary American music. [… H]e has shown an unstinting commitment to programming American orchestral works, many of them premieres. He has developed the program Bridging Cultures, which is devoted to promoting the music of indigenous and diverse communities. He is a model of the engaged conductor.[2]

Biography

Education and early career

Gier was born in Sherman, Texas, on April 3, 1960 to Jonelle and Delta Warren Gier.

Gier began studying trumpet with Dick Jorgenson at the age of 15, starting with instruction privately and at Interlochen Arts Camp and completing an undergraduate degree at the University of Arkansas in 1982. In the 1980s, Gier was a student at both the Tanglewood Music Center and the Aspen Music Festival, where he studied with many acclaimed conductors, including Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Masur, Erich Leinsdorf, Seiji Ozawa, and Gustav Meier.[3] In 1984, Meier invited Gier to pursue postgraduate studies with him at the University of Michigan. After completing his Master of Music degree, Gier apprenticed with the Philadelphia Orchestra for the 1986–87 season at the invitation of Riccardo Muti.[4]

Gier began his conducting career as a Fulbright Scholar in eastern Europe between 1988 and 1990. During this period he led numerous critically acclaimed performances with orchestras in Romania, Poland, Slovakia, and Turkey, including a tour with the State Philharmonic of Košice in former Czechoslovakia.[5] Several of these concerts served to introduce eastern European audiences to American music: Gier conducted the Romanian premiere of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring with the Bucharest Philharmonic[5] and the Turkish premiere of Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra of Ankara.[3]  

New York Philharmonic

In 1994, Music Director Kurt Masur selected Gier to be an Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic, a role he maintained for 15 seasons under the direction of both Masur and Lorin Maazel. Gier’s debut performance with the Philharmonic was in the summer of 2000, conducting Stravinsky’s Firebird ballet suite,[6] the first in a series of "splendid performances" where he was praised for "setting up musical climaxes masterfully and exploiting the subtlety of the timbrel combinations and expressive devices with a zeal not usually found."[7] 

Gier went on to conduct many educational concerts with the New York Philharmonic, as well as with the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Over his last two seasons as Assistant Conductor, Gier served as both host and conductor for two complete series of the New York Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concerts, becoming the first person to do so since Leonard Bernstein in 1952. 

During his tenure at the Philharmonic, Gier pursued a variety of guest engagements, including a tour of over sixty performances of Bizet’s Carmen with San Francisco Opera’s Western Opera Theater in 1997.[8] Also in 1997, Gier participated in the National Conductor Preview at the invitation of the League of American Orchestras.[9]

South Dakota Symphony Orchestra

In 2004, Gier was appointed Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra (SDSO), which has grown substantially and garnered national attention under his leadership.[10]

During his first season, Gier instituted a concert series which the Wall Street Journal recognized as "an unprecedented programming innovation" by including one composition by a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer on each concert.[11] The series continued for the next six years, expanding to include residences with composers John Corigliano, Jennifer Higdon, Steven Stucky, Zhou Long, and Paul Moravec. In 2006, the SDSO received the first of seven ASCAP Awards for Programming of Contemporary Music. In 2012, Gier was personally awarded ASCAP’s John S. Edwards Award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music in recognition of his work with the SDSO.[12]

In 2005, Gier began developing the Lakota Music Project (LMP), an ongoing SDSO initiative intended to address tensions between the white and indigenous populations in South Dakota, with the guidance of Lakota and Dakota tribe elders and academics.[13] Through mutual explorations of the Western classical canon, traditional Lakota music, and contemporary compositions, the LMP has occasioned continuous artistic collaboration in the form of musical partnerships between SDSO ensembles and Native American musicians like Dakota cedar flutist Brian Akipa, the Porcupine Singers, and the Creekside Singers. The LMP has given concerts across the state’s cities and Indian reservations, as well as in Washington, D.C., for a series of concerts in 2019.[14]

Gier has derived a model from the Lakota Music Project which has served as the SDSO’s flagship Bridging Cultures Program.[15][16] Further cross-cultural collaborations with Arab, Chinese, Sudanese, and Somali refugee communities have featured oud artist Simon Shaheen and composer Malek Jandali, composers Chen Yi and Zhou Long, and the Bernard Woma ensemble.[17]

The Lakota Music Project is the largest of several initiatives which have earned the SDSO grants from entities such as the Mellon Foundation in 2011[18] and the National Endowment for the Arts in 2017.[19] In 2016, the SDSO won the Bush Prize for Community Innovation; the accompanying case study booklet praises the organization as "a visionary leader when it comes to partnering with the community to help realize the healing power of music. It thrives because it transforms the traditional, transactional orchestra model into one that is focused on service to the community."[17]

Other engagements

In the United States

In addition to serving as Music Director of the SDSO, Gier regularly guest conducts ensembles across the country and has held several positions of significance in the American classical music sphere. Gier served as a juror for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music[20] and then returned to chair the jury in 2011.[21] Also in 2010, Gier was a judge for the ASCAP Foundation Rudolf Nissim Prize.[22] Gier has been on the Board of the American Composers Forum since 2013.

Abroad

Alongside his work in the United States, Gier has performed internationally as a guest conductor across the Americas, Europe, and Asia, forming longstanding relationships with orchestras in Costa Rica, Italy, Hungary, Poland, China, and Thailand.

After concluding his Fulbright in eastern Europe, Gier maintained relationships which allowed him to continue building familiarity with contemporary American music in the region. In 1996, Gier conducted the Polish National Radio Symphony in the recording of Carson Kievman’s Symphony No. 2 for New Albion Records,[23] as well as Kievman’s Symphony No. 3.

Gier continues to conduct and speak regularly in eastern Europe; he has served as principal conductor at the Crescendo Summer Institute, organized annually in Hungary, since 2010[4] and he has participated in the European Leadership Forum in Poland as a lecturer and panelist.[24] Engagements in western Europe have included the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway and recurrent performances with the Orchestra sinfonica della Città metropolitana di Bari in Italy, many of which have featured contemporary American music.[25]

Gier has also worked extensively with orchestras in Central and South America. In the 2000s, Gier appeared as guest conductor with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional of Costa Rica many times,[26][27] as well as the Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes in Mexico and the Orquestra Sinfonica do Porto Alegre in Brazil.[28]

In Asia, Gier has conducted orchestras in Singapore and China, and enjoys a longstanding relationship with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. Among his many performances with the latter ensemble are the grand opening of the ICONSIAM mall in Bangkok in 2018[29] and the 2017 TPO Asian Tour in Penang and Yala, Thailand.[30] In addition to featuring traditional Thai and Malaysian music on these concerts, Gier conducted premieres of music by living Thai and Chinese composers Narong Prangcharoen and Chen Yi, respectively. He has also introduced Thai audiences to contemporary American music like John Corigliano’s Symphony No. 1.[31]

Christianity

Gier has taken part in several Christian-affiliated music organizations in the capacities of artistic director, speaker, and teacher.[32] Since 2010, Gier has been on faculty as principal conductor at the summer music program organized by the interdenominational Christian musician network Crescendo International.[4] Gier is also responsible for coordinating the expansion of Crescendo International’s North American chapter and has established numerous hubs in cities across the United States, as well as facilitating and securing funding for initiatives like the Crescendo Chamber Music Project.[33]

Gier has been a regular guest conductor at the MasterWorks Festival since 1998. Gier has served as board member and Associate Artistic Director of Soli Deo Gloria Music Foundation, a nonprofit foundation which preserves and promotes sacred classical music through initiatives like the Chicago Bach Project and by commissioning new works. Gier conducted the world premiere of Jacob Bancks’s Lumen de Lumine in 2008.[34] In 2016, Gier conducted the Chicago Bach Project performance of the B Minor Mass at the Harris Theater.[35]

Awards

In 2012, Gier received ASCAP's John S. Edwards Award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music.[1]

In 2020, Gier was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.[32]

Gier is the recipient of Columbia University's 2022 Ditson Conductor's Award.[2]

Discography

Gier has conducted on the following recordings:

  • John Luther Adams, An Atlas of Deep Time (2023), South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, (Cantaloupe Music, Taiga Press)[36]
  • Lakota Music Project (Live) (2022), South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, Creekside Singers, Bryan Akipa, Stephen L. Bryant (innova Recordings)[37]
  • ‘String Quartet “The Hako” (World Premiere Recording)’ on Arthur Farwell: America’s Neglected Composer (2021), Dakota String Quartet (Naxos)[38]
  • Topaz Under the Moon (2001), Brooklyn Jazz Composers Orchestra[39]
  • Carson Kievman, Symphony No. 2(42) (1996), Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra – Katowice, Polish Radio Choir of Kraków (New Albion Records, Inc)[40]
  • Carson Kievman, Symphony No. 3 (hurricane) (1996), Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (Mystery Park Arts Records)
  1. ^ a b BFC (2012-06-08). "League announces 2011-12 ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming". The Hub. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  2. ^ a b c "Delta David Gier Wins 2022 Ditson Conductor's Award". Columbia University Department of Music. 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  3. ^ a b ‘Delta David Gier’ (bio). The Art of Listening (Resource Materials for Teachers) (PDF). 2008. New York Philharmonic. p. 21. https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/education/1213/artoflistening_2008.pdf?la=en
  4. ^ a b c "Crescendo Summer Institute Faculty: Gier, Delta David (USA)". www.crescendoinstitute.org. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  5. ^ a b "Alumni News". Music at Michigan. 24 (2). University of Michigan: 32. Spring 1994 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "CLASSICAL MUSIC AND DANCE GUIDE". The New York Times. 2000-08-04. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  7. ^ "DELTA DAVID GIER". web.archive.org. 2016-01-31. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  8. ^ "BERNSTEIN: THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS Festival Artists - Delta David Gier". bernstein.carnegiehall.org. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  9. ^ "Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview: Roster of Past Participants". americanorchestras.org. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  10. ^ Andrews, John (Fall 2022). "Delta David Gier's innovations have elevated the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, and the nation is noticing". Arts Alive, Arts South Dakota – via issuu.
  11. ^ Journal, Terry Teachout (2005-09-17). "Get Out of Town". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  12. ^ BFC (2012-06-08). "League announces 2011-12 ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming". The Hub. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  13. ^ Walsh, Lori. "Classical collaboration: Native and orchestra music". Argus Leader. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  14. ^ Midgette, Anne (2019-09-05). "The Lakota Music Project finds common ground through collaboration". The Washington Post.
  15. ^ "SDSO | Lakota Music Project". www.sdsymphony.org. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  16. ^ "Bridge Projects". deltadavidgier. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  17. ^ a b Todd, Michael. "Innovation Story No. 1: South Dakota Symphony Orchestra" (Case study booklet accompanying the Bush Prize for Community Innovation) (PDF). The Bush Foundation. pp. 11–12. https://www.bushfoundation.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/BushPrize2016_SDSO_Final_web.pdf
  18. ^ Foundation, Mellon. "Lakota Music Project : South Dakota Symphony Orchestra". Mellon Foundation. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  19. ^ "FY 2017 Fall Grant Announcement" (PDF). National Endowment for the Arts.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ^ "The 2010 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Music: Jennifer Higdon". The Pulitzer Prizes.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ "The 2011 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Music: Zhou Long". The Pulitzer Prizes.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. ^ Staff, NewMusicBox (2010-01-20). "Martin Kennedy Receives $5,000 ASCAP Foundation Nissim Prize". New Music USA. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  23. ^ Butterworth, Neil (1998). The American Symphony (1st ed.). Ashgate. p. 1998.
  24. ^ "Delta David Gier | European Leadership Forum". euroleadership.org. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  25. ^ "'Alla Scoperta dell'America': concerto con l'Orchestra della Città Metropolitana di Bari". www.comune.molfetta.ba.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  26. ^ "Repertorio retará a director invitado". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  27. ^ "Solista elocuente". Mundoclasico.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  28. ^ "SDSO 2020-21 Fall Program Book by SDSO - Issuu". issuu.com. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  29. ^ "Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra performed the grand opening of the ICONSIAM". Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. 2018-11-12. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  30. ^ "TPO tour goes to Yala, Penang". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  31. ^ "World Without End". Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  32. ^ a b "Legacy Delta David Gier - SD Hall of Fame Programs". sdexcellence.org. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  33. ^ Adams, Robert (2022-03-21). "More than Music". Covenant. Retrieved 2022-10-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  34. ^ Phemister, William (2018-06-20). The American Piano Concerto Compendium. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-5381-1234-2.
  35. ^ Rhein, John von. "Bach's B Minor Mass soars despite conductor's withdrawal". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  36. ^ "An Atlas of Deep Time | John Luther Adams". www.wisemusicclassical.com. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  37. ^ Black Hills Olowan (Live) by Creekside Singers, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra & Delta David Gier, retrieved 2022-10-25
  38. ^ "Arthur Farwell - America's Neglected Composer - 8.559900 | Discover more releases from Naxos". www.naxos.com. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  39. ^ "Bio". www.jeffraheb.com. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  40. ^ Kievman: Symphony No. 2(42) by Delta David Gier, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra & Polish Radio Choir of Kraków, 1996-01-01, retrieved 2022-10-25
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