Guest Conductor
Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as "a take-charge maestro who invests everything he conducts with deep musical understanding," Larry Rachleff has served as music director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic for 14 seasons. He also serves as music director of Rice University's Shepherd School Orchestras in Houston and the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, formerly known as Symphony II.
Mr. Rachleff has appeared as guest conductor with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Houston, Seattle, and Indianapolis symphony orchestras, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In 1993 he was among four American conductors selected to lead the Cleveland Orchestra at Carnegie Hall under the mentorship of Maestro Pierre Boulez.
A former faculty member at Oberlin Conservatory, where he served as music director of orchestras and conductor of the Contemporary Ensemble, Mr. Rachleff was also conductor of the Opera Theatre at the University of Southern California. In 1988 Mr. Rachleff served as music director of the highly acclaimed American-Soviet Youth Orchestra tour. He has conducted and presented masterclasses at the Chopin Academy in Warsaw, the Zurich Hochschule for Music and Theater, and the Sydney and Queensland (Australia) conservatories.
In constant demand as a conductor and masterclass clinician, Mr. Rachleff is frequently invited to lead other prestigious conservatory orchestras, including those at Juilliard, England's Royal Northern College, and New England Conservatory. He has spent his summers conducting at the Grand Teton Music Festival, Aspen, Tanglewood, Interlochen, the Music Academy of the West, Opera Theatre of Lucca (Italy), and the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge.
An enthusiastic advocate of public school music education, Mr. Rachleff has conducted all-state orchestras and festivals in virtually every state in the nation, as well as throughout Europe and Canada. He has also served as principal conducting teacher for the American Symphony Orchestra League, the Conductors' Guild, and the International Workshop for Conductors in the Czech Republic.
A dedicated advocate for contemporary music, Mr. Rachleff has collaborated with leading composers, including Samuel Adler, the late Luciano Berio, George Crumb, Michael Daugherty, and John Harbison.