Kevin Noe
Encyclopedia
Kevin Patrick Noe is an American
conductor
, stage director, writer
, actor
, filmmaker, and trumpeter. He is currently the Executive Artistic Director
of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble
http://www.pnme.org/, and a regular guest conductor of orchestra, opera, and ballet at Indiana University
's Jacobs School of Music
, in 1984 where he attended high school. He became increasingly serious about his musical studies, and also began competing in various musical competitions. He experimented with composition, and soon found a new passion for conducting as a result of programs in his school and his contact in 1987 with Larry Rachelff. During this time, in addition to performing in orchestras, bands, jazz bands, and choirs, he began performing as an actor in numerous productions in the Frankfort Youth Theatre and other youth theatre programs, and in school. He also began competing and winning prizes as an actor in state competitions in performances of scenes from various works including Edward Albee
's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and Peter Schaffer's Equus
.
in 1987, after attending the Interlochen Arts Camp for the first time as a student, where he performed in various ensembles, the jazz band, and as a conductor. While an undergraduate student in performance, he became increasingly involved with conducting and was invited to student conduct the University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra
in a performance while he was still in school. In September of 1992, Noe performed as a soloist with the College of Music Symphony Orchestra as one of five winners of the Annual Concerto Competition.
In 1990, Noe moved to London, England, where he enrolled in music studies at the University of Surrey
, as a part of a foreign exchange program. While in England, he performed in various ensembles, performed as a soloist with the university orchestra, and continued his conducting studies. He spent considerable time cultivating new passions for both opera – through dozens of performances he attended at the English National Opera
, and New Music
as well as continuing his passion for the theatre. He also began a lifelong affinity for the study of the aesthetics of theatre after committing considerable time to the study of the history of opera and opera's aesthetics from the Florentine Camerata
to the present.
After his return to the United States, he enrolled in graduate studies in 1992 at the Shepherd School of Music
at Rice University
in Houston as a student of Larry Rachleff, with whom he had first developed his love of conducting. While in attendance he served as the Music Director of the Campanile Orchestra, and he regularly conducted and performed with both the university Symphony and Chamber orchestras and was awarded the Sally Shepherd Prize in music for his work at the school. In 1993, he attended the Schweitzer Institute as a student of conducting with Gunther Schuller
.
In 1994, he was awarded the Maurice Abravanel
fellowship as a conducting fellow at the Tanglewood Institute. While in attendance at Tanglewood, he studied with Gustav Meier
, Seiji Ozawa
, and Robert Spano
. He was invited to conduct the Tanglewood Fellowship Orchestra in a performance of Act III of Puccini's La Bohème
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, stage director, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, filmmaker, and trumpeter. He is currently the Executive Artistic Director
Artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble
Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble
The Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble is an American ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the group was established by composer David Stock in 1976. It has premiered over 200 works and is a major regional cultural attraction...
http://www.pnme.org/, and a regular guest conductor of orchestra, opera, and ballet at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
's Jacobs School of Music
Jacobs School of Music
The Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music...
Growing up
Noe began music lessons at the age of 5. He moved frequently during his youth, eventually settling in Frankfort, KentuckyFrankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...
, in 1984 where he attended high school. He became increasingly serious about his musical studies, and also began competing in various musical competitions. He experimented with composition, and soon found a new passion for conducting as a result of programs in his school and his contact in 1987 with Larry Rachelff. During this time, in addition to performing in orchestras, bands, jazz bands, and choirs, he began performing as an actor in numerous productions in the Frankfort Youth Theatre and other youth theatre programs, and in school. He also began competing and winning prizes as an actor in state competitions in performances of scenes from various works including Edward Albee
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and Peter Schaffer's Equus
Equus (play)
Equus is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious fascination with horses....
.
Post secondary academic education
He began his undergraduate studies in music performance at the University of North Texas College of MusicUniversity of North Texas College of Music
The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and the oldest in the world offering a degree in jazz studies...
in 1987, after attending the Interlochen Arts Camp for the first time as a student, where he performed in various ensembles, the jazz band, and as a conductor. While an undergraduate student in performance, he became increasingly involved with conducting and was invited to student conduct the University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra
University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra
The University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra was established in 1920s at the University of North Texas College of Music — then known as North Texas State Teachers College School of Music...
in a performance while he was still in school. In September of 1992, Noe performed as a soloist with the College of Music Symphony Orchestra as one of five winners of the Annual Concerto Competition.
In 1990, Noe moved to London, England, where he enrolled in music studies at the University of Surrey
University of Surrey
The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...
, as a part of a foreign exchange program. While in England, he performed in various ensembles, performed as a soloist with the university orchestra, and continued his conducting studies. He spent considerable time cultivating new passions for both opera – through dozens of performances he attended at the English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
, and New Music
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
as well as continuing his passion for the theatre. He also began a lifelong affinity for the study of the aesthetics of theatre after committing considerable time to the study of the history of opera and opera's aesthetics from the Florentine Camerata
Florentine Camerata
The Florentine Camerata was a group of humanists, musicians, poets and intellectuals in late Renaissance Florence who gathered under the patronage of Count Giovanni de' Bardi to discuss and guide trends in the arts, especially music and drama...
to the present.
After his return to the United States, he enrolled in graduate studies in 1992 at the Shepherd School of Music
Shepherd School of Music
The Shepherd School of Music is a university school of music located on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. Shepherd School is itself very selective, accepting overall about 10-15% of all graduate applicants and 15% of all undergraduate applicants...
at Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
in Houston as a student of Larry Rachleff, with whom he had first developed his love of conducting. While in attendance he served as the Music Director of the Campanile Orchestra, and he regularly conducted and performed with both the university Symphony and Chamber orchestras and was awarded the Sally Shepherd Prize in music for his work at the school. In 1993, he attended the Schweitzer Institute as a student of conducting with Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
.
In 1994, he was awarded the Maurice Abravanel
Maurice Abravanel
Maurice Abravanel was aSwiss-American Jewish conductor of classical music. He is remembered as the conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra for over 30 years.-Life:...
fellowship as a conducting fellow at the Tanglewood Institute. While in attendance at Tanglewood, he studied with Gustav Meier
Gustav Meier
Gustav Meier is the director of the Orchestra Conducting Program at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He is also Music Director of the in Connecticut.-Biography:...
, Seiji Ozawa
Seiji Ozawa
is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.-Early years:...
, and Robert Spano
Robert Spano
Robert Spano is an American conductor and pianist. Since 2001 he has been Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra , and he served as Music Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic from 1996 to 2004...
. He was invited to conduct the Tanglewood Fellowship Orchestra in a performance of Act III of Puccini's La Bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
.
Post-college professional posts
- 1996–2000: Noe served as the Music Director of the Orchestras at Duquesne UniversityDuquesne UniversityDuquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened its doors as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost in October 1878 with an enrollment of...
, in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. He also served as a regular conductor for the Pittsburgh Opera Center in various productions including Samuel BarberSamuel BarberSamuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
's VanessaVanessaVanessa can refer to:* A member service officer at SOMB.* Vanessa , a female given name coined by Jonathan Swift, originally as a nickname for Esther Vanhomrigh* Vanessa , a genus of butterflies...
, and Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's The Rake's ProgressThe Rake's ProgressThe Rake's Progress is an opera in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings A Rake's Progress of William Hogarth, which Stravinsky had seen on May 2, 1947, in a Chicago...
, and taught undergraduate conducting. In 1998, he served as the conductor of the university New Music Ensemble. He also served on several occasions as a cover conductor with the Pittsburgh Symphony OrchestraPittsburgh Symphony OrchestraThe Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District.-History:...
.
- 1997: Noe accepted a post as the Associate Conductor of the National Repertory Orchestra, in Breckenridge, Colorado.
- 2000–2005: Noe served as the Music Director of the orchestras and Assistant Professor of music at The University of Texas at Austin and began teaching conducting for select graduate and doctoral level conducting students. In 2003, he served as co-host for the radio show Knowing the Score, a program showcasing new works of concert music and offering commentary intended to help audiences listen to and enjoy newly composed works more easily.
Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble
- 2000–present: Noe is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Pittsburgh New Music EnsemblePittsburgh New Music EnsembleThe Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble is an American ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the group was established by composer David Stock in 1976. It has premiered over 200 works and is a major regional cultural attraction...
, a professional ensemble founded in 1976 by composer David StockDavid StockDavid Frederick Stock is an American composer and conductor.Stock is a longtime resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he serves as a professor of composition and as the conductor of the Contemporary Ensemble at Duquesne University...
. Noe took the ensemble in a new direction combining his interests in both music and theatre and developed a presentation style for the group now known as "Theatre of Music." Since that time, audience attendance at performances has risen dramatically. The group has commissioned and premiered well over 200 works in its history, and over 45 during Noe's tenure with the ensemble. The group has recorded five albums since 2004, including "Drunken Moon" available currently on the Lime Green Records label, and Against the Emptiness - available in 2009 on the New Dynamic Records label. The group has now been listed five years in a row as having given one of the top ten performances in the city of Pittsburgh by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for the year. In the summer of 2008, the group presented the world premiere of a new multi-disciplinary work Noe co-wrote with his friend Kieren MacMillan called Just Out of Reach to critical acclaim. The work was subsequently taken on tour to Edinburgh, Scotland where it was nominated by the press for a Total Theatre Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.