Francis Scully, conductor
Francis Scully, a 29-year old American conductor, has dedicated himself to transforming musical culture in society. Changing the experience of classical music in America requires steadfast efforts in the areas of concert presentation, contemporary music promotion and education.
As founder and music director of New Resonance Orchestra, Francis has developed a new concept in classical music presentation, which relates the emotions of a great piece of music directly to the lives of the audience through multimedia. New Resonance Orchestra performed its first program, Rebuilding Appalachian Spring, to packed houses at the NOLA Candle Factory, an old warehouse in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The concert featured a script for actors and video projection which made analogies between the emotions of hope and anxiety found in Copland’s score and the post-Katrina New Orleans context. Reviewing the performance in the Mobile Press-Register, Frank Daugherty noted “by the end of the piece, a solemn, even reverential hush had fallen on the standing-room-only, sneaker-shod crowd before they burst into applause. Clearly, everyone realized that for all the friendliness and accessibility art on a very high level had just taken place.”
Mr. Scully is known as a fervent champion of new music and specifically the works of emerging young composers. He served as music director for the world premier of New Orleans composer Jonathan Freilich’s opera Bang the Law as part of the 2009 Fringe Festival. He also rehearsed and conducted the New Orleans New Music Ensemble’s recent Young People’s Concert featuring brand new music written for children.
Mr. Scully is also a firm believer in the importance of music in the lives of young people. Mr. Scully’s own career plan to become a rock-and-roll singer/guitarist changed dramatically at the age of 14 when he became absorbed by symphonic music and opera. He is currently on the music faculty at Holy Cross College in New Orleans where he teaches courses in music theory and music appreciation. He recently completed a summer as a conducting fellow at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Camp where he conducted and managed the Interlochen Philharmonic and the World Youth Symphony.
Francis Scully is committed to music-making of the highest technical and artistic quality. In fall of 2006, he took six months off to intern with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, where he observed rehearsals and performances led by Sir Simon Rattle and Berlin Philharmonic guest conductors.
Mr. Scully performs frequently in the New Orleans area as a violinist with Jefferson Performing Arts Society and he is currently the music director of a production of Wine Lovers which opens at Le Petit Theatre in May.
Mr. Scully completed his Masters in Orchestral Conducting at Peabody Conservatory in May 2005. His principal teachers include Gustav Meier, Markand Thakar, Jung-Ho Pak and Piotr Gajewski. He also holds a B.M. in violin performance from Catholic University with additional studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris.