Thomas Carlo Bo's work, both as a conductor and as a composer, demonstrates an innate and highly refined sense of lyricism, style, and dramatic daring which has garnered praise from all sectors of the musical spectrum.

 

As a proponent of new works, Maestro Bo has gained the respect of composers for his articulate and accurate approach to the score and his inspiring musical-dramatic interpretation.  His expert navigation of the 2010 premiere of Dalit Warshaw’s Night Lights for Theremin, flute, violin, and tuba was hailed as “haunting”, while his leadership of Jon Deak’s Lad, a Dog captivated the audience and brought the composer himself to his feet with applause.

 

Among many other distinctive performances of American contemporary music, Maestro Bo has conducted Seymour Barab’s The Duel, assisted William Bergsma’s The Murder of Comrade Sharik, Lukas Foss’ Introductions and Goodbyes, and been on the podium for the premieres of Charles Coleman’s Redemption and Lou Rodgers’ After Hours.  He remains active in conducting new works and is Music Director of Golden Fleece Ltd in New York City, a company established in 1975 and dedicated to the performance of new American operas.

 

In his own works, Mr. Bo has emerged with a unique voice that is cognizant of jazz idioms, operatic drama, sublime intimacy, and pointed humor.  His latest work, Shadows of the City, a commissioned one-act opera which premiered in 2010, is imbued with an American film noir mood and is scored for piano, clarinet, tenor saxophone, cello, and drum kit/percussion.

 

Other recent works include the heavily jazz influenced Sweet Blues Suite for violin (or clarinet) and piano, incidental music to ‘Our Town’ (including the beautiful and poignant Overture for an American Play), and 3 Songs to Poems by Stephen Vincent Benet for tenor and piano.

 

Additionally, Mr. Bo has distinguished himself as an arranger, having assisted a number of contemporary composers with chamber ensemble arrangements for their works.  His arrangement for string orchestra of Dave Brubeck’s Rondo à la Turk from the famous album ‘Take Five’ is a hit with advanced high school and college orchestras, as was his orchestral arrangement for missing fragments of Verdi’s I Masnadieri

A newly commissioned song cycle for soprano and piano, titled Pictures of the Pinelands, is set to be premiered in the spring of 2011, as is a work for piano, flute, and clarinet which is being written for Trio@Play.

 

Maestro Bo has conducted opera across the United States and in Europe and is referred to as an energetic leader with the ability to elicit meaningful and intelligent playing from orchestras and soloists alike.  With a core repertoire that clearly reflects his Italian sensibilities, Maestro Bo has shown an intimate knowledge of style:  from Mozart and Gluck, through the bel canto era to Verdi, Bizet, and Puccini, he consistently infuses musical accuracy with passionate drama.