Festival archive, Sunflower Music Festival, Washburn University

Charles Stegeman, artistic director/violin, made his recital debut at age 7 and his orchestral debut at 9. He began his university studies at The Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 14, continued at the Juilliard School (where he earned a Masters of Music) and did course work towards a Doctorate at the University of Michigan. These were interrupted to accept the joint position at the University of Missouri at Kansas City and the Concertmasterships with the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra and its affiliations. A winner of 5 national and one international violin competitions, Charles performs approximately 80 concerts per year as concertmaster, chamber musician, and soloist. Sought internationally for his talents, he performs in such cities as, London, Paris, Brussels, New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh. (Not to mention Topeka, KS for the last 15 years!) He has served as concertmaster for Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the State Ballet of Missouri and for many pop/rock touring groups such as Paige and Plant, the late John Denver, and Mannheim Steamroller. Currently he serves as concertmaster for the Pittsburgh Opera, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. He performs with the Sartory Piano Trio managed by Columbia Artists Management of New York, the Sunflower Duo with pianist James Rivers and is a tenured Associate Professor of Music at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. Charles is a national leader in the area of festival management. He has co-founded, directed and performed in the Sunflower Festival, Topeka, KS; MusicFest Midwest, Overland Park, KS; the Buzzards Bay Music Festival, Marion, MA; the Western Slope Summer Music Festival, Crested Butte, CO; the St. Bart's Music Festival, French West Indies; and the Pennsylvania Consort, Bedford, PA. He performs overseas every year with the American Chamber Ensemble as soloist and first violinist, and is the recipient of numerous awards, grants, and scholarships for his studies, performances, festivals, and various teaching activities. Published in Chamber Music America, he has recorded for Sony Classics with the Pacific Symphony, and is the featured soloist with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra's recent CD release.

“Hardly anyone in this country has shown such timing and has made the musicians sing as the American conductor Richard Buckley. His artistic sense and passionate ability is not a common right, but a rare privilege.”
—Svenska Dagbladet, Stockholm, Sweden

Acclaimed American conductor Richard Buckley continues to distinguish himself with a career that has developed internationally with the world’s greatest symphony orchestras and opera houses. Ranked among today’s most experienced and sought-after conductors, Richard Buckley has guest conducted with many of the world’s major orchestras and continues to lead acclaimed productions with some of the world’s finest opera houses, as well as being one of today’s foremost exponents of new operatic works.

Mr. Buckley’s recent engagements include the Edmonton Symphony, conducting Berlioz’ Romeo et Juliette, the Delaware Symphony, the Grant Park Music Festival, Sunflower Music Festival, the St. Barts Music Festival, the Portland Opera, Utah Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. His upcoming engagements include Mourning Becomes Electra with Seattle Opera, La Traviata with Florida Grand Opera, and La Bohème with the Royal Swedish Opera. He will also conduct a further revised version of Mourning Becomes Electra with the Seattle Opera.

Richard Buckley has guest conducted the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, the orchestras of Saint Louis, Minnesota, Houston, Seattle, Utah, Toronto, Vancouver, the CBC Vancouver, the Calgary Philharmonic, as well as many others.

He has toured London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Symphony, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra; conducted the Berlin Radio Symphony in a gala televised nationally and recorded for Koch-Schwann; and appeared with the BBC Philharmonic in the “Great Composers” Series for BBC Television. In addition, he has guest conducted the Prague Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Hallé Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra and L'Orchestre National de Lyon.

He continues to be in great demand with opera companies. He has conducted productions with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Washington Opera, New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Baltimore Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, L’Opéra de Montréal, among many others. Toronto honored him with their prestigious Dora Award for Best Musical Direction in a production of Il Trovatore with the Canadian Opera Company. Among his many European engagements, he enjoys repeated appearances with the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, L'Opéra National de Paris, Royal Danish Opera, Göteborg Opera, Norwegian National Opera, De Nederlandse Opera, and Teatro San Carlo Lisbon.

Richard Buckley has lead ten main stage productions at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, more than any other American conductor in the company’s history. He conducted his first Wozzeck when Lyric called on him as a last minute replacement for Daniel Barenboim. Recently, he premiered the acclaimed new production of Kurt Weill’s Street Scene. He also premiered a newly revised version of Marvin David Levy’s Mourning Becomes Electra, both highly publicized and widely praised. He will return in 2004, conducting Aida.

He continues to be a strong proponent for new opera. He premiered Bright Sheng’s The Song of Majnun; Stephen Paulus’ The Woodlanders and The Women at Otawi Crossing, both commissioned by the Opera Theatre of St. Louis; and lead the US premiere of Aulis Sallinen’s The King Goes Forth to France with the Santa Fe Opera. He conducted a new production of Giancarlo Menotti’s The Consul and a newly revised version of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra.

Maestro Buckley served as Music Director of the Oakland Symphony, Principal Guest Conductor of the Seattle Symphony, and held posts with the Seattle Opera, and the Washington Opera. He was a prize winner in both the Besançon and Rupert Foundation International Conducting competitions.