Richard Bado

2003 Regional Judge

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Richard Bado made his professional conducting debut in 1989 leading Houston Grand Opera's acclaimed production of Show Boat at the newly restored Cairo Opera House in Egypt. Since then, Mr. Bado has conducted at the Houston Grand Opera, Teatro alla Scala, the Opéra National de Paris, the New York City Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, the Houston Ballet, in Tokyo, and has conducted the Robert Wilson production of Virgil Thomsen's Four Saints in Three Acts at the Edinburgh Festival. Mr. Bado has conducted at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music where he served as an Artist-Teacher for six years. He appears regularly in recital with Renée Fleming and has also accompanied Cecilia Bartoli, Denyce Graves, Marcello Giordani, Ramon Vargas and Nathan Gunn.

Mr. Bado, who holds music degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he received the 2000 Alumni Achievement Award and West Virginia University, has studied advanced choral conducting with Robert Shaw. As Houston Grand Opera's Head of Music Staff and Chorus Master, Mr. Bado has prepared choruses for over 100 productions, including the chorus for the Decca video recording of La Cenerentola with Cecilia Bartoli. He also serves as the Music Director for the Houston Grand Opera Studio, HGO's premiere young artist training program. He is currently on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School and has served on the music staff of the Metropolitan Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Chautauqua Opera and Wolf Trap Opera. This upcoming season includes conducting La Bohème at the Houston Grand Opera and conducting concerts featuring Renée Fleming in Ft. Lauderdale and Montreal.

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