ROBERT SHAW, Conductor

Music Director Emeritus and Conductor Laureate of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Robert Shaw began his tenure as Music Director of the ASO 30 years ago in 1967 and served in that capacity until 1988. During that time, he built it into a major American orchestra, gamering widespread acclaim through national and international tours and award-winning recordings. A regular guest conductor of major orchestras in this coun­ try and abroad, Mr. Shaw is also in demand as a teacher and lec­ turer in leading U.S. universities. He founded the Robert Shaw Institute to foster excellence in music making, especially in the choral arts. The Institute’s summer festivals in southwest France have attracted admiring attention from the international press and produced a number of recordings from the Robert Shaw Festival Singers. Beginning this summer, the Institute is sponsored by the University of Utah and is in residence in Park City, Utah. In Atlanta, he per­ forms and records with the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers. Mr. Shaw’s distinguished career began in New York, where he prepared choruses for such renowned conductors as Arturo Toscanini and Bruno Walter. In 1949 he formed the Robert Shaw Chorale, which for two decades reigned as America’s premier touring choral group and was sent by the U.S. State Department to 30 countries in Europe, the Soviet Union, the Middle East, and Latin America. During this period, Mr. Shaw also served as Music Director of the San Diego Symphony and then as Associate Conductor of the Cleve­ land Orchestra, working closely with George Szell for 11 years. Throughout his career, Mr. Shaw has received abundant recognition for his work. His honors include degrees and citations from 40 U.S. colleges and universities, 13 Grammy Awards, England’s Gramophone Award, a Gold Record for the first RCA classical recording to sell more than a million copies, four ASCAP Awards for service to contemporary music, the first Guggenheim Fellowship ever awarded to a conductor, the Alice M. Ditson Award for service to contemporary music, the George Peabody Medal for outstanding contributions to music in America, and the Gold Baton Award of the American Symphony Orchestra League for distinguished service to music and the arts. Mr. Shaw was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the National Council on the Arts, and he was a 1991 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, the nation’s highest honor to artists “who, through a lifetime of accomplishment, have enriched American life by their achievement in the performing arts.” He was named Musician of the Year for 1992 by Musi­ cal America, the international directory of the performing arts, and during the same year was awarded the National Medal of Arts in a White House ceremony. He was the 1993 recipient of the Conductors’ Guild Theodore Thomas Award, in recognition of outstanding life achievement in conducting as well as his contributions to the education and training of young conductors. In March of 1997, the French government awarded him its medal as “Officier des Arts et des Lettres.”

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