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The American choral conductor and music pedagogue, James Allbritten, obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in Voice from University of Louisville. He began his operatic career with Kentucky Opera. While a student in Louisville, he was invited to participate as one of the youngest artists in the San Antonio Arts Festival, where he was apprenticed to Boris Goldovsky. He obtained his Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Indiana University, under Jan Harrington, Robert Porco and Thomas Dunn. While there, he also worked with Glyndebourne Festival Opera conductor Bryan Balkwill and MET stage directors Hans Busch and James Lucas. Currently he is D.M.A. Conducting Candidate at Indiana University.
James Allbritten moved to North Carolina in 1993 to join the faculty of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), where his duties include Artistic Director of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, conductor of the Cantata Singers and The UNCSA Symphony Orchestra. He has led performances of works from Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Lo frate ‘nnamorato through Rorem’s Our Town. He has also led performances for Opera Theatre of the Rockies, including the award-winning production of W.A. Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Opera Carolina, the Winston-Salem Symphony and the Carolina Chamber Orchestra. He spent four seasons as Music Director for NCSA’s Illuminations Festival on the Outer Banks, and led the UNCSA Festival Orchestra at Côte Vermeille and for the Flâneries Musicales d’Ete de Reims in France. He has been conductor of Winston Salem Symphony Chorale (1995-2001); Principal Conductor Opera Theater or the Rockies Vocal Arts Festival (since 2000); General and Artistic Director of Piedmont Opera (since 2009). He is in his eighth season as general director for Piedmont Opera after serving 10 years as its Artistic Director. His work for the company has received considerable critical acclaim. He has also worked with Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
James Allbritten returned to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts as the Music Director of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute and conductor of the Cantata Singers. In his 20 years at UNCSA he was the conductor of the Cantata Singers, founding artistic director of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute and served as the musical director of the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra. He led over 300 performances for the school across North Carolina and Europe. In 2013, he was the recipient of an Excellence in Teaching Award for the third time, and in the same year, he was honored by the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at UNCSA as a "class act: one who employs best practices in arts education." Upon his retirement from UNCSA, the school announced the establishment of a $500,000 endowed professorship, the "James Allbritten Distinguished Visiting Artist Professorship" for the Fletcher Opera Institute, ensuring the artistic legacy of the Institute in perpetuity.
Career Highlights: Puts'Silent Night at Piedmont Opera; W.A. Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at Opera Theatre of the Rockies; Guettel's The Light in the Piazza at Piedmont Opera; Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I at Opera Theatre of the Rockies; Wagner's Der fleigende holländer at Piedmont Opera; Verdi's Un ballo in maschera at Piedmont Opera; Puccini's Turandot at Piedmont Opera. Of Piedmont Opera's Madama Butterfly, Opera Lively said, "Jamie Allbritten does understand it, and his conducting, if we need to define it by one word, is elegant." The New York Wagner Society had this to say of his Flying Dutchman: "The joy of the afternoon was Allbritten's finely modulated conducting, which brought out the varying moods of the score." Other productions include Robert Ward’s Pulitzer Prize winning opera The Crucible, which was sadly the last time the composer saw his work. He helped celebrate composer Benjamin Britten’s 100th birthday this year with a production of Owen Wingrave for the Fletcher Opera institute.
James Allbritten has received numerous prestigious awards for his role as a musician and educator, including: UNCSA Excellence in Teaching (2004); UNCSA Excellence in Teaching (2009); Kenan Institute Class Act in Teaching Excellence (2013); UNCSA Excellence in Teaching (2013). Organizations: Opera America, College Music Society. |
