Gregory Pritchard, Guest Conductor (2004)
Gregory Pritchard received his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Orchestral Conducting from Michigan State University and was a student of Leon Gregorian, Catherine Comet, and Elizabeth Green. Dr. Pritchard has served as Music Director of North Georgia Symphony (United States) since 2001. Other US positions include: Music Director of Opera Company of Mid-Michigan, Associate Conductor of Kokomo Symphony , and Fellowship Conductor of Grand Rapids Symphony. University faculty positions include Georgia State University (Atlanta), University of Evansville (Indiana), and Konservatori Seni Halus (Fine Arts Conservatory, Penang, Malaysia). As a bassoonist and saxophonist Dr. Pritchard has performed with several professional orchestras throughout the United States and abroad, including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic (Indiana), Charleston Symphony Orchestra (South Carolina) and Grand Rapids Symphony (Michigan).
In 1990, as Assistant Conductor of the Blue Lake International Youth Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Pritchard conducted performances in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and France, and was selected to perform a private concert for the Chancellor of Vienna. In 1997 the Lansing State Journal named him "Exceptional Music Director" for his work at the Riverwalk Theater (Michigan). In 2002 he made his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall (New York) with the Brookwood Philharmonic (Georgia). He has guest conducted several ensembles throughout the United States, including the Dearborn Symphony (Michigan), Southeastern Ohio Symphony, Grande Ronde Symphony (Oregon), Atlanta Wind Symphony, Miami University Orchestra (Ohio), Alma Symphony (Michigan), and Wayne State University Symphony (Michigan). In January of 2004 he won first prize at the International Conductors Workshop in Macon, Georgia and was named a Semifinalist for the National Conducting Institute in Washington D.C. In August 2004 he also won the conducting prize from the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society Advanced Conducting Workshop (Russia).