BRENT CHANCELLOR BIO

Brent Chancellor is quickly establishing himself as a compelling, versatile and distinctive artist. Recognized for his captivating performances and inventive programming, in 2019 Brent was named Artistic Director and Conductor of the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Rockland Symphony Orchestra and Interim Music Director of the Rutgers University Sinfonia. Within his short tenure, he has expanded each orchestra’s repertoire, increased concert offerings, and spear-heading digital media projects, audience outreach and education initiatives.

Brent has performed on some of the world’s foremost stages including Carnegie Hall, BAM, Symphony Space and NJPAC, and in 2019 was invited to lead performances with The Irish Tenors East Coast Holiday tour and the New Jersey All-State Orchestra. Since 2018, he has served as a cover conductor with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, assisting conductors Nicholas McGegan and Otto Tausk on concerts featuring pianists Robert Levin and Seong-Jin Cho.

As Conducting Assistant with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra from 2016-2017, Brent helped plan audience outreach events, led pre-concert discussions connecting works through musicology, history, and social sciences, and helped facilitate the first live streamed concert in the orchestras history. Additional appointments include Assistant Conductor positions with the New Jersey Festival Orchestra and Festival Napa Valley, where he worked closely with conductors Martin West, Stéphane Denève and Joel Revzen to prepare a wide variety of concert programs featuring André Watts, Angel Blue, Lester Lynch and the San Francisco Ballet. During summers, Brent serves as Music Director of the New Jersey Vocal Arts Collaborative, and since 2008 has maintained a close relationship as a conductor with the world renowned International Vocal Arts Institute.

Along with his performances, Brent is rapidly gaining recognition as a unique and imaginative presenter. In 2016 he founded LUX, an orchestra initiative dedicated to connecting young audiences with symphonic music through dramatic concert experiences that merge cross-genre multimedia projects with orchestral music. Acclaimed performances have included Grammy® Award-winning jazz violinist and member of Snarky Puppy, Zach Brock, fully immersive multi-sensory concerts with live DJ, and collaborative partnerships with the South Orange Performing Arts Center and Carnegie Hall’s Link Up program.

A passionate advocate of new music and diverse voices, Brent champions the work of living composers through programming, commissions, premieres and advocacy. Recent performances include works by Amanda Harberg, Kaija Saariaho, John Corigliano, John Adams and Michael Torke, and upcoming regional premieres include music by David Sampson, Richard Danielpour and Anders Koppel. In 2015 Brent led the New Jersey premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s, Lichtbogen, and his 2001 performance of Steve Reich’s Piano Phase was praised by the composer as “one of the best performances” he had heard. An award-winning composer himself, Brent’s music has been performed at the Festival of New American Music, Festival of the Arts, Center for Contemporary Art and NY Fashion Week.

A skilled and insightful opera conductor, Brent has led numerous productions and collaborated with many accomplished musicians and young artists from The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, La Scala and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Hailed by Mignon Dunn as “a real singers’ conductor”, from 2008-2012 he served as Assistant Conductor to Paul Nadler on productions including Ariadne auf Naxos, La Traviata, Don Pasquale and Lucia di Lammermoor, and concerts with the Israel Chamber Orchestra and l'Orchestre de la Francophonie. He has worked with revered stage directors Marc Verzatt, Joshua Major and Ira Siff and Lawrence Edelson, and in 2018, stepped in last minute to lead highly praised performances of The Rape of Lucretia, leading to his immediate appointment as Interim Music Director of the Montclair State University Opera Orchestra. Other credits include Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, Le Nozze di Figaro, L’enfant et les sortilèges and Tamerlano.

Brent studied conducting with Paul Nadler (Metropolitan Opera) and Ken Lam (Charleston Symphony Orchestra) and holds degrees in composition, piano and conducting. He attended Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts, the Hochschule für Musik Trossingen and the John J. Cali School of Music. Additionally, he has held conducting fellowships with the Blackburn Music Academy at Festival Napa Valley, the International Vocal Arts Institute, and in 2018 and 2019 attended the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music with Cristian Măcelaru.