Bio
Active in a wide variety of music, Bruce has a national profile as a conductor and music educator from coast to coast. His schedule includes classical repertoire at Carnegie Hall, appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, and at the Hollywood Bowl leading orchestras with guest artists from Stevie Wonder, Darren Criss, to Latin superstars Juanes and Gloria Estefan.
Currently, his Music Director positions include the Adrian Symphony (MI) and the Sequoia Symphony Orchestra (CA). Bruce has conducted at the country’s most storied halls, including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, and SPAC. Bruce has worked with Dmitry Sitkovetsky, David Kim, Tai Murray, Alexander Paley, Steven Lin, Andrew Tyson, Alexi Kenney, Jeffrey Biegel, Lindsay Deutsch, Jennifer Check, Anthony Dean Griffey, Gary Hoffman, Darren Criss, Gloria Estefan, Stevie Wonder, Ricky Minor, Grace Potter, Jason Alexander, Lonny Price, Jodi Benson, Doug LeBrecque, Doc Watson, David Holt, Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Juanes, Gospel performers Richard Smallwood and Curt Carr, and his orchestras have accompanied multiple performances with The Airborne Toxic Event, Clay Aiken, Natalie Cole, and Michael Bolton among others. He has prepared orchestras for performances with Simon Rattle, Marin Alsop, Gustavo Dudamel, Thomas Wilkins, and David Robertson. Bruce created several original orchestrations to accompany the legendary rock band “Journey” for their performance at the Hollywood Bowl.
He also spent 8 years as resident conductor of the wonderful Greensboro Symphony Orchestra in North Carolina before relocating to California. Following that, Bruce was the Assistant Conductor of the Pasadena Symphony and Pops and Music Director of the Pasadena Youth Symphony.
Bruce’s other passion is music education, where he regularly works with outstanding youth orchestra programs. For five years, Bruce was the YOLA conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he led multiple orchestras of different levels, including most of the 700 students at YOLA’s three sites. YOLA is Gustavo Dudamel’s signature music education program, which brings free-of-charge musical opportunities to underserved youth in Los Angeles. He is also Artistic Director and Conductor of the School of Orchestral Studies at the NY Summer School of the Arts.
Bruce is active in higher education, where he served for three years on the faculty of the Longy School of Music of Bard College: MAT program (Master of Arts in Teaching). Currently, Bruce conducts the University Orchestra and Opera at the University of California Santa Cruz.
Then there’s also his addiction to film music, which finds its way on to many of his concert programs, including full performances of the films “Star Wars,” multiple films in the “Harry Potter” series, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Psycho,” and “Casablanca.” And also there is his whole musical theater phase where he served as musical director for dozens of productions including the original production of Darren Criss (of TV’s “Glee”) “A Very Potter Sequel,” which became a top ten hit on iTunes. He also musical directed several productions of the five-time Emmy winner “The News in Revue,” and also “They’re Playing Our Song” at Reprise Theater starring Jason Alexander.
Bruce holds graduate degrees from the University of Michigan, The University of Miami, and The University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Recent guest conducting appearances include The San Francisco Symphony, The Pacific Symphony, The Toledo Symphony, The Long Beach Symphony, San Luis Obispo Symphony, the Fresno Philharmonic, the Owensboro Symphony, the Greensboro Symphony, the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra, the Western Piedmont Symphony, the Lakeside Symphony (OH), the San Diego Youth Symphony, and three years with the Young Artists Orchestra at Tanglewood.
In spite of his intrepid schedule, Bruce somehow finds time to vacation a bit. A post-grad year in Colorado turned Bruce into an avid skier who regularly visits New England, Colorado, Tahoe, and Utah resorts. Although based in Los Angeles, he also loves New York City´s cultural scene in classical music and theater. A diagnosed cinephile, he’s grateful that LA has such a lively theater, music, and film scene to enjoy, although Bruce is still grieving the loss of Hollywood’s Arclight Theater in Hollywood, once the world’s greatest movie theater.
Gallery
Conducting
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Casual
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YOLA
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