Conducting at Carnegie Hall
- by Melissa Baum
Credit: Tracey Grumbach
Photos by Jerry Taylor, Barbara Willians, Stefan Antwarg and Tracey Grumbach
Conductor
In addition to serving as the music director of the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra, Sheldon Bair has been on the conducting staff for the Elizabethtown College Music Camp since 2002. In November 2000, Bair was bestowed the Paderewski Award for Contributions to Society and Culture at the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C. He has conducted orchestras in Texas, Oklahoma, and Toronto, Canada. Bair participated in the Sixth Malcolm Arnold Festival in Northampton, UK, in the fall of 2011 by introducing Arnold’s 9th Symphony at the final Gala Concert. In the fall of 2019, Bair filled the orchestra position at the University of Delaware for the orchestra’s music director who was on sabbatical.
"Sheldon has built the SSO into a powerhouse, simply the best all-volunteer orchestra I have heard. They play with cohesion and passion; their Schubert Ninth was a revelation." - Kile Smith, Composer
"Thanks so much for the recording of the 2nd, Sheldon. What a fresh, wonderful performance you gave it. It brought out all kinds of new, interesting things and was really persuasive. I wish I had been there!" - Anthony Meredith, biographer of composer Sir Malcom Arnold regarding Arnold's 2nd Symphony with the University of Delaware.