J. Ernest Green is the Artistic Director of Live Arts Maryland and the Music Director of the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and Annapolis Chorale.  He served as a Cover Conductor with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where he worked with such artists as Metropolitan Opera star Denyce Graves, Sir James Galway, Pinchas Zuckerman, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski. He recently received acclaim for conducting the National Symphony Orchestra for a subscription weekend with a last minute call when Bill Conti was unable to appear – he had less than 20 minutes to prepare the program!  He regularly worked with and conducted for Marvin Hamlisch, most recently with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the National Symphony. This past fall he was the Musical Advisor for the Memorial Concert for Marvin Hamlisch at Juilliard and worked with Mike Nichols, Liza Minnelli, Aretha Franklin, Lang Lang, Kevin Cole, Maria Friedman and Barbra Streisand.

This past summer Mr. Green conducted with the Festival Barocco di Viterbo in Italy and will return next season to conduct with the Festival as well as with the Tuscia Opera Festival.  In January, Mr. Green will conduct the Pittsburgh Symphony in a concert of the music of the late Marvin Hamlisch.

Known for his adventurous and creative programming as he pushes the boundaries of the concert hall, Mr. Green has created several “fusion” programs combining standard concert repertoire with popular and contemporary music, which he has lead with orchestras both here and abroad.  In addition, he has received acclaim for his concert productions of operas and other stage works, among them Verdi’s “La Traviata,” “Sweeney Todd,” and, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific.”  He has also been engaged to develop similar programs for other orchestras.  Mr. Green also created a new concert production of “Don Giovanni,” which premiered in 2010.  Referring to his creativity and innovation in and beyond the concert hall, The Baltimore Sun recently said, “Green should be commended for his downright prodigious programming.”

J. Ernest Green has appeared with many orchestras including: The Philadelphia Orchestra with Marvin Hamlisch, The National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, The Florida Orchestra, Cumberland Valley Chamber Orchestra, Annapolis Symphony, the Sophia Symphony and Varna Symphony (Bulgaria), Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Lincoln Symphony, Orquestra Sinfonica Nacional (Santo Domingo), Mesa Symphony, Cumberland Valley Chamber Players and the Trinity Chamber Orchestra (Cleveland).  He has toured with the Ballet Arabesque (Bulgaria) the Ballet Theatre of Maryland, Mozart Festival Opera and the Teatro Lirico d’Europa.  Mr. Green’s opera credits include the Hawaii Opera Theatre, Teatro Lirico d’Europa, Boston Aria Guild, Indiana Opera North, Associacão Opera de Brasilia, Boston Academy of Music and the Young Victorian Theatre Company. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1993 and in 1986 made his international debut conducting performances with the Fundacão Orquestra Sinfonica de Brazil, Associacão Opera de Brasilia, and the Orquestra Jovem de Brasilia.

In addition to his musical activities, Mr. Green is an avid advocate for the arts and an active fundraiser for his own company as well as other community organizations.  He has served as a music panelist for the Maryland State Arts Council and has served as an advisor on its Strategic Planning Committee.

In 2002 he was given the Performing Arts Award (also known as the “Annie”) by the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County and was recently (2012) awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award making him the only person to have received two such awards!

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