Maestro
Stuart Malina is one of America’s most versatile and
accomplished conductors. In a wide variety of
concerts, from masterworks and grand opera to pops, Maestro
Malina’s ease on the podium, engaging personality,
and insightful interpretations have thrilled audiences and
helped to break down the barriers between performer and
listener wherever he has worked. Music Director and
Conductor of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra since June
2000, Stuart Malina has also held appointments at the
Greensboro Symphony Orchestra (Music Director, 1996-2003),
and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (Associate Conductor,
1993-97).
Maestro Malina made his Carnegie Hall debut in February of
2007, conducting the New York Pops in an all-Gershwin
tribute including Rhapsody in Blue, which he
conducted from the keyboard, and returned to Carnegie and
the Pops in October of 2007. This past season, Maestro
Malina had return engagements with the Indianapolis
Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Eastern Music Festival,
at which he conducted the world premiere of Billy
Joel’s
Symphonic
Fantasies for Piano and Orchestra. In
2006, he debuted with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra,
and in 2007 with the Naples Philharmonic, after which he
was reengaged for concerts in 2008 and 2009. He has had
multiple appearances with the Chautauqua Institution
Orchestra, as well as concerts with Detroit Symphony
Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of St.
Luke’s (NY), Kansas City Symphony, Youngstown
Symphony, AIMS Festival Orchestra (Graz, Austria), North
Carolina Symphony Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra and
the Queens Symphony Orchestra.
On the opera podium Maestro Malina’s recent
engagements include Opera Delaware (Porgy and Bess),
Piedmont Opera (Massenet’s Manon) and Greensboro
Opera (Il barbiere di Siviglia ).
Maestro Malina’s activities also extend to Broadway.
In June 2003, he won a coveted TONY award for orchestration
with Billy Joel for the musical Movin’ Out, which
Malina helped create with director/choreographer Twyla
Tharp. He is currently music supervisor for both the
National Tour and the London/European Tour of the
show. Maestro Malina has also served as Associate
Conductor of the National touring company of West Side
Story and as conductor of the Charleston production of
Porgy and Bess with performances in the United States,
Canada, and the Israel Festival. In 1995, in a
strange turn of events, Malina appeared on stage, acting
opposite Broadway legend Zoe Caldwell in Terrence
McNally’s Tony-winning drama Master Class for its run
at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
An accomplished concert pianist, Maestro Malina has
impressive credits as soloist, having concertized
throughout the Northeastern USA, the Netherlands, and with
the acclaimed Piccolo Spoleto Contemporary Music
Festival. His chamber music activities include
frequent appearances in Central PA, presentations of
Messaien’s Quartet for the End of Time, on the Linton
Series in Cincinnati, a recent performance of the
Shostakovich Piano Quintet, with the Enzo Quartet, and
several concerts with the Fry Street Quartet. He performs
regularly with former concertmaster of the Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra Alexander Kerr, HSO concertmaster
Odin Rathnam, world-renowned cellist Daniel Gaisford, and
oboist Gerard Reuter.
Maestro Malina holds degrees from Harvard University, the
Yale School of Music, and the Curtis Institute of Music,
where he studied conducting with Otto-Werner Mueller. He
studied piano with Drora and Baruch Arnon and with Keiko
Sato.