Richard Carsey
Summer Pops
Artistic Director |
Richard Carsey enjoys a varied career as a conductor,
pianist, orchestrator and actor, and has been
called by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “one
of the most influential theatre artists in Milwaukee
over the past 10 years.” Mr. Carsey is currently
the principal conductor of the Skylight Opera
Theatre, where he also served as artistic director
from 1997 to 2003. During his 16-year association
with the Skylight, Mr. Carsey has conducted over
50 productions ranging from opera and operetta
to musical theater including the world premiere
production of Richard Wargo’s Ballymore
(based on the play LOVERS, by Brian Friel), and
THE MIKADO, both subsequently broadcast on regional
PBS. Other highlights include Kirke Mechem’s
TARTUFFE, Puccini’s GIANNI SCHICCHI, MAN
OF LA MANCHA, and SWEENEY TODD.
In 1989, Mr. Carsey was
the co-author, pianist and performer in A Broadway
Cabaret, which toured from the Skylight under
the auspices of the United States Information
Agency. The program traveled internationally for
two summers, the first year in South and Central
America (Peru, Bolivia, and Panama were all on
the itinerary), and the second in Eastern Europe
(including Turkey and Greece) |
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Mr. Carsey is originally
from Omaha, Nebraska, studying there with a number
of teachers including Jackson Berkey, one of the
founding members of the group Mannheim Steamroller.
His college education began at the Eastman School
of Music, and he finished his bachelor of music
in piano at the University of Louisville, where
he studied with the esteemed pianist Lee Luvisi,
a member of the Lincoln Center Chamber Players.
He received a master’s degree in piano at
Indiana University, where he served as a member
of the coaching faculty for its world-renowned
opera program. During his time at IU, he traveled
with a group of performers to Pakistan and the
Persian Gulf, and was among the first American
performers to appear in concert on Kuwaiti television.
Since 1991, he has made
Milwaukee his home, and has been active in the
community in many capacities. As an actor, he
has appeared as Harold in THE BOYS IN THE BAND,
Malvolio in Shakespeare’s TWELFTH NIGHT,
and Artie in THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES, all for
Bialystock and Bloom; Manny in MASTER CLASS, and
multiple roles in DIRTY BLONDE for the Chamber
Theater; and in several productions at the Milwaukee
Repertory Theater.
Since 2003, he has toured
with the two-actor play 2 PIANOS, 4 HANDS, directed
by Richard Greenblatt, appearing at the Dallas
Theater Center, Laguna Beach Playhouse, Maltz-Jupiter
Theater, the Globe in Regina, Saskatchewan, and
the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. The
play won the 2006 Connecticut Critics Circle Award
for Outstanding Touring Production for its appearance
at Hartford Stage Company.
Mr. Carsey works frequently
as music director and conductor in other regional
theaters and opera companies as well, including
Lyric Opera Cleveland (La Belle Helene, The Barber
of Seville, Into the Woods); Florida State Opera
(Orpheus in the Underworld), and the Liceu Opera
in Barcelona, Spain (A Little Sondheim Music).
Upcoming engagements include the regional premiere
of THE PRODUCERS at Marriott Lincolnshire, THE
BACHELORS at American Folklore Theater, conducting
WHITE CHRISTMAS and NINE at the Skylight. He will
make his on-stage Skylight debut as Cosme McMoon
in SOUVENIR opposite Linda Stephens. |
