THE JOFFREY BALLET NAMES SCOTT SPECK AS ITS NEW MUSIC DIRECTOR

Speck to lead the Chicago Sinfonietta in accompanying
each Joffrey performance in the 2010-2011 “Stars” season

CHICAGO – September
1, 2010 – The Joffrey Ballet is
proud to announce that Scott Speck
has been appointed as the Joffrey’s new Music Director.  Speck appeared on the podium during the
Joffrey’s 2009-2010 season as Guest Conductor of the Chicago
Sinfonietta
for the productions of Othello last
Fall and Cinderella last Winter.  His first performance in his new role as
Music Director will be the upcoming All
Stars program, taking place at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt
University, October 13 – 24, 2010.

 “I have collaborated with Scott Speck for many
years,” noted Ashley Wheater,
Artistic Director of The Joffrey Ballet. 
“I called on him last year to conduct the very complex score for Elliot
Goldenthal’s Othello, and both
dancers and orchestra were extremely grateful for his
involvement.  He is an accomplished
musician, scholar and conductor.  Even
more importantly, he possesses a love for and an understanding of ballet.  Music is at the heart of ballet.  I am delighted that Scott will bring his
great talents to the Joffrey.”

Born in
Boston, Speck, 48, graduated summa cum laude from Yale University.  There he founded and directed the Berkeley
Chamber Orchestra, which continues to perform to this day.  He was a Fulbright Scholar in Berlin, where
he founded Concerto Grosso Berlin, an orchestra dedicated to the performances
of Baroque and Classical music in a historically informed style.  He received his Master’s Degree with highest
honors from the University of Southern California, served as a Conducting
Fellow at the Aspen School of Music, and studied at the Tanglewood Music Center.  In addition to his position with The Joffrey
Ballet, Speck is also the Music Director of the Mobile Symphony (AL), the West
Michigan Symphony (MI), and the Washington Ballet (DC).

Previously
he held positions as Conductor of the San Francisco Ballet, Music Advisor and
Conductor of the Honolulu Symphony, and Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles
Opera.  During a recent tour of Asia he
was named Principal Guest Conductor of the China Film Philharmonic in Beijing.  In recent seasons Speck has conducted at
London’s Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, Washington’s
Kennedy Center, San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, and the Los Angeles
Music Center.  He has led numerous
performances with the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Houston, Paris, Moscow,
Shanghai, Beijing, Vancouver, Romania, Slovakia, Buffalo, Columbus, Honolulu,
Louisville, New Orleans, Rochester, Florida, Oregon and Virginia, among many
others.

In
addition, Speck is the co-author of some of the world’s best-selling books on
classical music for a popular audience, Classical
Music for Dummies, and Opera for
Dummies.  These books have been
translated into twenty languages and are available around the world.  His third book in the series, Ballet for Dummies, was released in
September 2003.

For
more information about The Joffrey Ballet or Scott Speck, please visit joffrey.org.  <-->