Maurice Peress (March 18, 1930 – December 31, 2017) was an American orchestra conductor, educator and author. After serving as assistant conductor of the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

under

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

beginning in 1961, Peress went on to stand as leader of the orchestra in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...

in 1962. In 1970, he also became leader for two years of the

Austin Symphony Orchestra The Austin Symphony Orchestra is the oldest performing group in Austin, Texas, USA. It was founded in 1911. History The inaugural concert was held on April 25, 1911. Initially, the orchestra consisted of 28 unpaid members and an unpaid conductor. ...

. In 1974, he left Texas to take over the Kansas City Philharmonic, where he remained until 1980. He conducted Leonard Bernstein's musical theatre work ''

MASS Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

'' in 1971, 1973 and 2014. Maurice Peress had also extensively conducted orchestras internationally, including the

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (Cantonese: 香港管弦樂團), commonly abbreviated as HKPO or HKPhil (Cantonese: 港樂), is the largest symphony orchestra in Hong Kong. First established in 1947 as an amateur orchestra under the name Si ...

in 1980, the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August S ...

in 1981, the

Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia) is an Italian symphony orchestra based in Rome. Resident at the Parco della Musica, the orchestra primarily performs its Rome concerts in ...

of Rome in 1988, the Brno Orkester of the Czech Republic in 1997, the FOK Orkester at the

Prague Spring Festival The Prague Spring International Music Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní hudební festival Pražské jaro, commonly cs, Pražské jaro, Prague Spring) is a classical music festival held every year in Prague, Czech Republic, with symphony orchestras an ...

in 1988, the Shanghai Radio and Television Orchestra in 1996–97, the

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008. The MSO relies on f ...

in 1998, and the Barbican Centre Orchestra in London in 1999. In the 2000s, he toured extensively in China, leading the Shanghai Opera Orchestra, the China National Symphony in Beijing, and the Shenzhen Symphony. From 2010 to 2014, he served as the music director and conductor of the New Britain Symphony Orchestra in New Britain, Connecticut. In 1984, he became a professor at the

Aaron Copland School of Music The Aaron Copland School of Music is one of the oldest departments at Queens College, founded when the College opened in 1937. The department's curriculum was originally established by Edwin Stringham, and a later emphasis on the analytical sys ...

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

. Though he had himself earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, he established a Master of Arts degree in conducting there. He also conducted the Queens College Orchestra. Peress was the author of ''Dvorak to Duke Ellington: A Conductor Explores America's Music and Its African American Roots'', published in 2004 by Oxford University Press. Peress worked with Ellington in revising the ending of ''

Black, Brown and Beige ''Black, Brown and Beige'' is an extended jazz work written by Duke Ellington for his first concert at Carnegie Hall, on January 23, 1943. It tells the history of African Americans and was the composer's daring attempt to transform attitudes abo ...

'', which he debuted with the

American Jazz Orchestra The American Jazz Orchestra was an American big band jazz ensemble founded in New York City, active from 1986 to 1993. The ensemble was formed by Roberta Swann and Gary Giddins in 1986; John Lewis was its inaugural bandleader. The ensemble played ...

in 1988. Maurice Peress died in Manhattan on December 31, 2017 and leaves three children, all in the arts: Lorca Peress, a theatrical director; Paul Peress, a composer and drummer; and Anika Paris (née Peress), a singer/songwriter.

Notes

Sources

Maurice Peress, Professor
Aaron Copland School of Music.
Finding aid to the Maurice Peress collection at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peress, Maurice 1930 births 2017 deaths American male conductors (music) Queens College, City University of New York faculty Texas classical music 20th-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians People from Manhattan