Mark Allen McCoy

Artist Information

Biography

Mark Allen McCoy is currently the Music Director and Conductor of the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra in Northern Virginia. Composer/Conductor David Amram stated “Mark McCoy is doing what so many talk about but aren’t able to actually accomplish. He has created an ensemble, that is as thrilling and rewarding for outsiders to hear as it is for the members of the community which his excellent orchestra serves." Having been lauded by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as " . . . conducting with the broad, sweeping gestures typical of the old Central European tradition . . ." this dynamic American conductor has enjoyed success on a national and international scale. Known for his exciting and innovative programming, McCoy is a dedicated advocate for the arts, making classical music accessible to entire communities. Concertgoers have deemed him ". . . impressive, emotive, and energetic" in repertoire ranging from pops to ballet. His family/educational concerts have been praised as both entertaining and thought-provoking, inspiring a whole new generation of concertgoers.

Maestro McCoy’s recent engagements include the Erie Chamber Orchestra, Philippine Philharmonic (Manila), Szczecin Filharmonia (Poland), Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Toledo Symphony, and Virginia Symphony. He has also appeared with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Kharkov Philharmonic (Ukraine), Tokyo City Philharmonic, Japan Shinsei Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia Romagna "Arturo Toscanini" (Italy), Saint Joseph Symphony, St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra (Russia), and the Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra. McCoy has had the pleasure of working with such artists as Marvin Hamlisch, Hilary Hahn, Bruce Hornsby, Eugene Fodor, Judith Ingolfsson, Brian Ganz, the Capitol Quartet, the Loudoun Lyric Opera, and the Loudoun Ballet.

McCoy has served as cover conductor for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and was Music Director of the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestras from 1995 to 1998. McCoy is former Director of Orchestras at Towson University, and also served as Music Director of the Orchestral Academy of the Tropics in Miami, Florida. His outreach efforts have included work with young musicians, musical lectures, in-school appearances, and the promotion of new music.

Mr. McCoy received acclaim as the only American chosen as one of six finalists during the 1997 “Arturo Toscanini” International Competition for Conductors held in Parma, Italy. In November of the same year, McCoy received an Honorable Mention in the finals of the prestigious Tokyo International Conducting Competition. McCoy was First Prize Winner in the 1996 Freedman Conducting Competition, and was awarded the Harold Randolph Prize for Outstanding Musicianship and Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in 1995. In 1991, he was invited to participate in the 1st Prokofiev International Conducting Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia as part of the Prokofiev 100th Anniversary celebration.

As a recipient of a Conducting Fellowship to the Aspen Music Festival, McCoy was granted concerts with the Aspen Concert Orchestra. In the opera and ballet world, he has lead productions of Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, L’Elisir d’Amore, The Impresario, The April Witch, Dido and Aeneas, La Serva Padrona, The Old Maid and the Thief, Peter and the Wolf, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker among others.

Mr. McCoy holds degrees from the Conservatory of Music in Kansas City and the University of Illinois, and furthered his conducting studies at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. His former teachers have included Frederik Prausnitz, Gustav Meier, Paul Vermel, Mehli Mehta, Margaret Hillis, and Glenn Block.

Instrumentation

Conductor

Discography

See "Audio" for sample recordings.

Links

• Facebook
• Video: Candide ala Loudoun Symphony
• Video: Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music
• Video: Amram Ode to Lord Buckley
• Loudoun Symphony Orchestra
• International Music Center of America

Audio

• Stravinsky: Firebird Suite 1945
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• Dvorak 8, 1st mvt.
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• Dvorak 8, Adagio
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• Dvorak: Symphony No. 8, Allegretto
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• Dvorak 8, 4th mvt.
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• Worsley: Sundance
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• Mozart: Magic Flute Overture
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• Verdi: Brindisi, Libbiamo, ne'lieta from "La Traviata"
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• Verdi: Quartet, Bella figlia from "Rigoletto"
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Video

Beethoven 4 and Brahms 4

Shostakovich 5

Photo Gallery

Press

• LSO Strips Chamber Music Down to the Basics [+ Show ]
  

  From the first strokes of his baton, the conductor, Mark Allen McCoy, simply exudes passion; the For...From the first strokes of his baton, the conductor, Mark Allen McCoy, simply exudes passion; the Fort Worth Star-Telegram does not exaggerate when it speaks of him “conducting with the broad, sweeping gestures typical of the old Central European tradition.” I see quickly why Maestro McCoy has been asked to perform all over the world, including Parma, Italy, where he was one of six finalists in the 1997 “Arturo Toscanini” conducting competition; he appears to lose himself in his music, yet he retains complete control, to the point where I can virtually see the mental interaction between conductor and instrumentalist as it happens onstage.

• Concert Review [+ Show ]
  

  " . . . a riveting performance." "The program was diverse in its sound, composition and mood, and ..." . . . a riveting performance."
  "The program was diverse in its sound, composition and mood, and enchanted those in attendance."

• Concert Review [+ Show ]
  

  “Mark McCoy is doing what so many talk about but aren’t able to actually accomplish. He has created...“Mark McCoy is doing what so many talk about but aren’t able to actually accomplish. He has created an ensemble, that is as thrilling and rewarding for outsiders to hear as it is for the members of the community which his excellent orchestra serves. During his 12 years with the Loudoun Symphony, he has transformed a devoted amateur ensemble into a top rate orchestra capable of playing a sophisticated and difficult program and making it appear effortless, as well as entertaining, while maintaining the highest level of impeccable musicianship, stylistic individuality, and tonal beauty in a program that would be a challenge for any top rate orchestra. Leonard Bernstein himself, as well as, Dvorak would have been as delighted as I was to hear their music performed so beautifully by the Loudoun Symphony, with the outstanding performances that the orchestra gave of The Overture to Candide and Symphony of the New World. Under McCoy’s masterly direction, the brilliant young soloist Noah Getz gave my saxophone concerto Ode to Lord Buckley a stunning and definitive performance that I will always remember. Mark McCoy and the Loudoun Symphony can serve as a guideline for a fresh new present and assured future for symphonic music in America.”

• Concert Review [+ Show ]
  

  " . . . appeared onstage without the score and conducted with the sweeping, broad gestures typical o..." . . . appeared onstage without the score and conducted with the sweeping, broad gestures typical of the old Central European tradition, transcending mere dictating of rhythm."

• Concert Review [+ Show ]
  

  "The Loudoun Symphony is a first rate group of performers lead by a director of profound insight and..."The Loudoun Symphony is a first rate group of performers lead by a director of profound insight and command. Maestro McCoy's attention to detail in my work "Still" brought about a level of playing from the orchestra that went beyond a rendering of the piece to a performance that was truly inspired, rich in color and imbued with the mystical spirit in which the piece was written."

• Concert Review [+ Show ]
  

  " . . . McCoy was able to inspire his troops for some dashing fortissimos as the water of life, in t..." . . . McCoy was able to inspire his troops for some dashing fortissimos as the water of life, in the words of poet Friederich Holderin . . . was flung from rock to rock."

• Concert Review [+ Show ]
  

  " . . . impressive . . . stuck to his guns, demanding and getting sustained playing that covered ove..." . . . impressive . . . stuck to his guns, demanding and getting sustained playing that covered over virtually every potential empty space."

• Concert Review
  

  "The orchestra played with near perfection. McCoy has raised the artists to a new level."

• Concert Review [+ Show ]
  

  "Mark Allen McCoy led the symphony in a virtuoso performance of two major works, Beethoven's Triple ..."Mark Allen McCoy led the symphony in a virtuoso performance of two major works, Beethoven's Triple Concerto and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5."

• Concert Review [+ Show ]
  

  We, as a community, should thank the Loudoun Symphony and especially Music Director and Conductor Ma...We, as a community, should thank the Loudoun Symphony and especially Music Director and Conductor Mark Allen McCoy for presenting such a wonderful concert . . .

• Concert Review [+ Show ]
  

  I also was impressed by the conductor's handling of the exotic tone poem "Scheherazade" . . . Not on...I also was impressed by the conductor's handling of the exotic tone poem "Scheherazade" . . . Not only did McCoy keep all the trains running on time . . . but there were evocative changes of instrumental color as various themes passed among the principal players.

Setlist

PROGRAMS OF NOTE
Complete program list available upon request.

Saint Joseph Symphony, St. Joseph, Missouri (September 2008)
Mozart Magic Flute Overture, Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2, Stravinsky Firebird Suite 1945

Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Manila, Philippines (December 2005)
Rimsky-Korsakov Christmas Eve Suite, Castelnuovo-Tedesco Concertino, Mozart Concerto for Flute and Harp, Tchaikovsky Valse Finale et Apotheose from The Nutcracker

Loudoun Symphony Orchestra, Leesburg, Virginia (May 2004)
Copland Billy the Kid Suite, Ibert Concertino da camera, Sprenkle November, Hanson Symphony No. 2 “Romantic”

Szczecin Filharmonia, Szczecin, Poland (November 2003)
Worsley Sundance, Dvorak Symphony No. 8, Haydn and Arutiunian Trumpet Concerti

Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Toledo, Ohio (February 2002)
Concert series including neighborhood, pops and Black History Month programs

Towson University Orchestra, Towson, Maryland (December 2001)
Towson University Ballet
Complete staged Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Ballet with full orchestra

Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Norfolk, Virginia (August 2001)
Bruce Hornsby, special guest artist
Performance in newly opened Harbor Center for an audience of over 5,000

Towson University Chamber Orchestra, Towson, Maryland (March 2000)
Eugene Fodor, violin
Program included Vivaldi Four Seasons, Vitali Chaccone, Massanet Meditation

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore, Maryland (October 1999)
Alicia Hui, violin
Program included works by Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Villa-Lobos

Loudoun Symphony Orchestra, Leesburg, Virginia (August 1999)
Hilary Hahn, violin
Program included Goldmark Violin Concerto in A minor and Dvorak Symphony No. 8

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