Mark
Sforzini is proud to be a part of
the vibrant Saint Petersburg arts scene and has established himself as a
passionate conductor and inspired composer as well as an accomplished
bassoonist. In his various posts,
including Artistic Director of the St. Petersburg Opera, Sforzini conducts a full
range of repertoire including standard orchestral repertoire, chamber
ensembles, broadway, pops and opera.
Over the past three years, Sforzini has conducted fully-staged
productions of Madama Butterfly, The Barber of Seville, Die Fledermaus, La
Bohème, L’Elisir d’Amore and Don Giovanni. This season he will conduct Lehar’s The
Merry Widow and Verdi’s La Traviata.
In 2003,
Sforzini co-founded FloriMezzo and served as Artistic Director from 2003 –
2008. Sforzini is also the Artistic
Director of the prestigious Encore Series at the Palladium. 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.
Highly
sought after as a composer, Sforzini has been commissioned by, amongst others,
the Florida Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, FloriMezzo, Palladium Theater,
Pinellas Youth Symphony, Ray and Nancy Murray, J. B. Starkey Jr., The Preis
Family, Marian Moorhead, Crested Butte Music Festival, Hillsborough Arts
Council and City of Tampa Water Department.
He has recently accepted a major commission to compose a full opera,
which prompted his departure from the Florida Orchestra after serving as Principal
Bassoon from 1992 – 2007. Sforzini has
also played Principal Bassoon with the Crested Butte Music Festival every July
since 2003, where he was also the Composer-in-Residence in 2003. He recently conducted the Crested Butte
Mountain Theater’s production of Into the Woods and will return next
summer to serve as Music Director in their production of The Music Man. He will also conduct Asheville Lyric Opera’s
touring production of Carmen in 2010.
Mark also recently had the honor of serving as an adjudicator for the
Altamura/Caruso International Vocal Competition in New York.