BIOGRAPHY
Conductor and pianist Gordon Schermer has performed on three continents with some of the world’s finest musicians. Most recently, Mr. Schermer served as principal coach and cover conductor for Puccini's Tosca at Hawaii Opera Theatre. He joined the music staff of The Santa Fe Opera in 2019 for Puccini’s La bohème and the world premiere of Poul Ruders’ The Thirteenth Child. Last season, Mr. Schermer prepared productions of Philip Glass’ Satyagraha at LA Opera, Verdi’s Aida at Seattle Opera as well as Puccini’s La bohème, Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Massenet’s Werther at Florida Grand Opera.
Recent engagements as a conductor include Frida at Florida Grand Opera, La traviata and Carmen at Opera Maine, and Tosca and Les Pêcheurs de perles at Tulsa Opera. Additionally, he has worked for the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Michigan Opera Theatre. He has appeared in master classes given by Renée Fleming, Marilyn Horne, Sherrill Milnes, Mignon Dunn, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Carol Vaness, Catherine Malfitano and Nathan Gunn. Mr. Schermer is the recipient of a fellowship to attend the Aspen Music Festival and School. There, he was chosen to play Verdi's Requiem for renowned conductor Leonard Slatkin.
Mr. Schermer has taught at Manhattan School of Music since 2008. He has also held positions at the Bard College Conservatory of Music and Montclair State University. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master’s Degree in Collaborative Piano from Manhattan School of Music. His teachers have included Ian Hobson, Kenneth Merrill and John Wustman.