Bio

Conductor, Martin Herman, has served as guest conductor with symphony orchestras world-wide. Known for his clarity, attention to detail, advocacy of new music by living composers, powerful interpretations of the classics as well as comfort with crossover popular concerts, he is one of today's versatile and promising conductors. He has recently conducted Das Sinfonie Orchester Berlin at the Berlin Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the Sydney Opera House, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Detroit Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Ft. Worth Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, and the San Diego Symphony. He also served as music director and conductor with Downtown Opera in Long Beach, California, conducting premieres of new operas in the U.S. and the Czech Republic. In the fall of 2009, he was conductor and music director at LaMaMa Theatre in New York City where he led performances of his one-act opera, The Doctor, based on Chekhov short stories. He has served as assistant conductor with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and conductor of the Berkeley Young Musicians Program Orchestra and U.C. Berkeley Summer Orchestra. Additionally Mr. Herman has conducted several orchestra crossover projects in Amsterdam and Berlin. He was assistant to composer Gian Carlo Menotti in the production of his opera, “The Consul” at the Spoleto Festival USA, where he also apprenticed with the conductor Christopher Keene.
Mr. Herman studied conducting and composition at Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of California, Berkeley and spent two years in Paris, France on a Fulbright Grant and U.C. Berkeley Ladd Prix de Paris where he worked as conductor and composer with the “New American Music in Europe” and “American Music Week” festivals. He has received recognition for his work in the promotion of international cultural exchange from the Trust for Mutual Understanding, New York City.