American conductor and pianist Scott Dunn is the Associate Conductor of the LA Philharmonic's Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. One of the most versatile musicians of his generation, he has garnered critical praise as conductor and pianist. As one New York critic noted…he is a conductor of great promise, a pianist of note, and a sensitive and intelligent artist. All of these elements came together to give the audience an experience closer to heaven than most of us will get in this lifetime.
He has recently led such distinguished ensembles as the LA Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Omaha Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the St Petersburg (Russia) Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France and has shared the stage with guitarist Trey Anastasio, Beck, Natalie Cole, Sean Lennon, Chris Botti and other noted artists. A one-time student of Byron Janis, he also has appeared in the world's most distinguished venues and on numerous NAXOS recordings as pianist soloist and collaborator.....Clearly born to play the piano; an abundance of technique and musicality wrote the LA TIMES.
A passionate promoter of American crossover and concert music, his west coast premiere for Jacaranda of Phillip Glass's rarely heard ANOTHER LOOK AT HARMONY PART IV, caused the LA TIMES' Mark Swed to rave…Scott Dunn conducted almost as if he were in the trance of sacred Bruckner. The final, ecstatic section was pure rapture. He is known for his performances of Ives and has championed the works of his mentors Richard Rodney Bennett, Lukas Foss and Leonard Rosenman. He is also closely associated with songwriter/composer Vernon Duke. Dunn orchestrated Duke's PIANO CONCERTO IN C for his 1999 Carnegie Hall debut with the American Composers Orchestra and in 2011 he led the premiere of his own reconstruction of the Duke 'ORPHIC TRILOGY' in Russia with the St Petersburg Philharmonic. He recently edited the VERNON DUKE SONG BOOK vol. 1 for Hal Leonard - and this fall Dunn will premiere FOUR VERNON DUKE SONGS for Violin and Piano (arranged by Sir R.R. Bennett); record the complete violin works of Vernon Duke for NAXOS; and will workshop a 'new' Vernon Duke musical MISIA based on the life of Diaghilev confidant Misia Sert;.
In addition to his orchestration of the Duke piano concerto, other noteworthy projects include orchestration supervision of Danny Elfman's 2008 RABBIT AND ROGUE at the Met for Tywla Tharp and the ABT; assistance to John Mauceri et al in the reconstruction of George Gershwin's original 1935 production version of PORGY AND BESS; and the 2012 Belmont/Universal Editions publication of his Schoenberg/Dunn FOUR BRETTL LIEDER/CABARET SONGS FOR VOICE AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA - which Dunn will premiere with soprano Jennifer Zetlan and the Omaha Symphony spring 2013.
Dunn's professional conducting career began in 1999, when Lukas Foss appointed him associate music director for The Music Festival of the Hamptons. Dunn subsequently held conducting posts at GIimmerglass Opera and at Pittsburgh Opera. In 2007, he joined the conducting staff of the LA Philharmonic's Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and in 2010 was named Associate Conductor.
updated 8/2012
