Anthony Parnther
{{Short description|American conductor and bassonist}}
{{BLP sources|date=August 2020}}
{{use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Anthony Parnther
| image = Anthony Parnther.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Parnther conducting at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain
| birth_name =
| birth_place = Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
| home_town =
| television =
| awards =
| instrument = Bassoon, contrabassoon, cello
| genre = {{flatlist|
}}
| years_active = 1988–present
| label = NMC Recordings
| associated_acts =
| website = {{official URL}}
| module =
}}
Anthony Parnther is an American conductor, bassoonist, and educator, prominently known for his work conducting and playing on critically acclaimed film scores.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2019-09-10/black-conductors-anthony-parnther-san-bernardino|title=Few black conductors lead orchestras. For Anthony Parnther, it's time to represent|website=Los Angeles Times |date=2019-09-11 |access-date=2020-08-27|first=Tim|last=Greiving}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfcv.org/events-calendar/artist-spotlight/anthony-parnther-finds-inspiration-everywhere|title=Anthony Parnther Finds Inspiration Everywhere|website=sfcv.org|access-date=2020-08-27|publisher=San Fransicso Classical Voice|first=Victoria|last=Looseleaf}}
In 2019 he was appointed music director and conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra in San Bernardino, California and concurrently serves as the music director of the Southeast Symphony in Los Angeles, California, a position he has held since 2010.
Early life and family
Anthony Parnther was born in Norfolk, Virginia, to Samalauluoloitefu (née Paese), an economist and professor, and George Parnther, an engineer.
Around 1949, George Parnther emigrated to the United States from Kingston, Jamaica and enlisted in the U.S. Navy before serving in the Korean War. George eventually matriculated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with degrees in engineering and mathematics. Samalaulu (abbreviated) emigrated from Samoa in 1960 and studied economics at Columbia University. The Parnther family settled in Norfolk, Virginia in the late 1960s.
Anthony graduated from E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he played the cello, bassoon, and tuba in the instrumental music department.
Education
He studied conducting at Yale University and music performance at Northwestern University.
At Yale University, he studied conducting with Lawrence Leighton Smith and Otto Werner Mueller.
Career
After a two-year international search, the San Bernardino Symphony appointed Anthony Parnther as their Music Director in May 2019.
Parnther currently serves as conductor of the Southeast Symphony in Los Angeles, California.
Previously, he conducted the Orange County Symphony in Anaheim, California and the Inland Valley Symphony (now the Temecula Valley Symphony) in Temecula, California.
He is a noted conductor, orchestrator, and bassoonist with the Hollywood Studio Symphony for television, motion pictures, and video games.
=Guest conducting=
Anthony has appeared with many of the leading orchestras in North America, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, and the Buffalo Philharmonic.
In 2018, Parnther conducted Chineke! following the 30-month refurbishment of the Queen Elizabeth Hall,{{cite web |url=https://www.theartsdesk.com/classical-music/chineke-parnther-qeh-review-joyful-re-building-house |website=theartsdesk.com |first=Body |last=Tonkin |date=2018-04-10 |access-date=2023-05-01 |title=Not so Brutal: the South Bank's concrete palace reopens in jubilant style |publisher=The Arts Desk}} and again in September 2023 at the BBC Proms.{{cite news |title=Conductor Anthony Parnther on the importance of diversity in classical music |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/royal-albert-hall-orchestra-bbc-oppenheimer-black-panther-b1104108.html |access-date=27 September 2023 |work=Evening Standard |date=31 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926085815/https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/royal-albert-hall-orchestra-bbc-oppenheimer-black-panther-b1104108.html |archive-date=26 September 2023 |location=London}}
=Film scores=
Parnther is a prolific conductor of scoring sessions for motion picture, television, album, and video game scores with the Hollywood Studio Symphony.
He has led the recording sessions for such projects as Avatar: The Way of Water, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Encanto, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Nope, League of Legends, Creed III, Devotion, Tenet, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, American Dad, Arcane, The Adam Project, Slumberland, The Way Back, Cheaper By The Dozen, Lost City, Little, The Hunt, Turning Red, Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Fargo, The Night Of, 4400, The Lamplighters League, Guild Wars, Oppenheimer, and many more.
=Teaching=
Anthony directed the Symphonic Band and directed and designed for the Marching Buccaneers and the Men and Women's Basketball Pep Bands at East Tennessee State University from 2004-2007. He taught applied double reeds at Fullerton College from 2008–2010 and served as director of the YMP/YMCO program under the Department of Equity and Inclusion at University of California, Berkeley from 2010–2015. He was Artist-in-residence at the Oakwood School in North Hollywood from 2015–2017.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{official website}}
- {{IMDb name | nm6211425}}
- [http://www.lasentinel.net/The-Southeast-Symphony-Association-Inc.-SESA-will-open-the-64th.html Southeast Symphony opens 64th Season with new Maestro]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110709181926/http://www.southeastsymphony.org/about/conductor.html Biography on Southeast Symphony Website]
- [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/arts/star-wars-conductor-anthony-parnther-carnegie-hall-1235130289/]
- [https://www.billboard.com/music/features/encanto-turning-red-conductor-anthony-parnther-interview-1235062644/]
- [https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2019-09-10/black-conductors-anthony-parnther-san-bernardino]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parnther, Anthony R.}}
Category:21st-century American conductors (music)
Category:African-American classical musicians
Category:African-American conductors (music)
Category:American male conductors (music)
Category:Classical musicians from Virginia
Category:American classical bassoonists
Category:Musicians from Norfolk, Virginia
Category:People from Temecula, California
Category:21st-century American male musicians
Category:20th-century American conductors (music)
Category:20th-century American male musicians
Category:Classical musicians from California
Category:American musicians of Jamaican descent
Category:American people of Samoan descent
Category:20th-century African-American musicians
Category:21st-century African-American musicians
{{US-conductor-stub}}