 | A modern-day Renaissance man, Mark Sforzini is not only a conductor, a bassoonist, and a composer, but also a visionary leader who, as his latest venture, has organized the St. Petersburg Opera Co. Now in its fourth season, the company has produced eight operas and has two more scheduled for this season. The company has operated in the black throughout. Maestro Sforzini served as principal bassoon of the Florida Orchestra from 1992-2007. He is also the Artistic Director of the prestigious Encore Series of chamber music at the Palladium Theater and was co-founder and Artistic Director of FloriMezzo from 2003-2008. Prior to his current posts, Sforzini served for three years as Music Director of the Pinellas Youth Symphony and many years as a composer-mentor for Hillsborough County Schools. In addition to vocal coaching, he is highly sought after as an adjudicator, clinician, and chamber music coach. He still teaches bassoon to private students and as an adjunct professor at St. Petersburg College. On the podium, Sforzini has conducted a full range of repertoire including standard orchestral repertoire, chamber ensembles, Broadway, pops and opera. He recently conducted the Crested Butte Mountain Theater’s productions of Into the Woods and The Music Man and has played Principal Bassoon with the Crested Butte Music Festival every July since 2003. He was the Composer-in-Residence in 2003. He has written and produced a number of one-act opera and music programs based on operatic repertoire and using professional singers and orchestral musicians. Highly sought after as a composer, Sforzini has been commissioned by, among others, the Florida Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, FloriMezzo, Palladium Theater, Pinellas Youth Symphony, Ray & Nancy Murray, J. B. Starkey Jr., The Preis Family, Marion Moorhead, Crested Butte Music Festival, Alfred T. May, Hillsborough Arts Council and the City of Tampa Water Department. |
