This summer, School of Music associate professor and conductor of Cal State Fullerton’s University Symphonic Winds, Gregory Xavier Whitmore, led the Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble and the WorldStrides High School Honors Performance Series ensemble in concerts in Costa Rica and Australia.
Whitmore is passionate about teaching — especially when it comes to teaching future educators to inspire and lead young musicians — and has presented research at music education symposia throughout the United States and abroad.
In 2008, he was selected as one of School Band and Orchestra Magazine’s “50 Band Directors Who Make a Difference.”
For nearly 20 years, PSYWE has provided high school students from Southern California high schools the opportunity to engage with the professional musicians of Pacific Symphony and their conductor and music director Carl St.Clair, who stepped down from the podium this year after 35 years.
Participating Orange County high schools include Sonora and Troy high schools, and the Orange County School of the Arts.
Under the baton of Whitmore, who is also the ensemble’s music director, PSYWE performed a series of three concerts in Costa Rica over the course of 12 days, culminating in a sold-out concert at the world-famous Teatro Nacional, which is home to Costa Rica’s National Symphony Orchestra.
Sponsored by the Costa Rican Ministry of Culture, the concert program included both American and Costa Rican music. PSYWE received three curtain calls at the end of the concert with one patron gushing, “I have never heard anything as beautiful as what I heard from you. Thank you.”
On July 11, Whitmore led the WorldStrides High School Honors Performance Series concert at Sydney Opera House in Australia.
The audition-only ensemble is comprised of rising young musicians from across the United States who, guided by invited master conductors, are chosen to perform at some of the world’s most celebrated concert halls, including the Sydney Opera House.
The selected musicians met in Sydney for a week of rehearsals, collaboration and sightseeing culminating in an unforgettable concert experience at the legendary Sydney Opera House.
Much like the Costa Rican concert program, the concert in Sydney featured American and Australian music. The concert was well-received, and the ensemble earned an enthusiastic standing ovation from the audience.
Whitmore made an impression on one young musician who commented, “I had such a great time under your baton. Thank you for all you do to encourage and inspire musicians.”
Campus community members can hear Whitmore conduct the CSUF University Symphonic Winds in “Shakespeare in Sound” on Oct. 12 in Meng Concert Hall. A collaboration between the College of the Arts’ School of Music and the Department of Theatre and Dance, the concert features instrumental and vocal music from the Shakespearean era along with curated scenes from Shakespeare’s plays.