Mark I. Gibson

Mark Gibson, director of orchestral studies at CCM since 1998, enjoys a career that spans three continents, guest conducting and teaching from Munich to Manila.

Prior to his arrival in Cincinnati, Gibson served as principal conductor of the Alabama Symphony, visiting director of orchestral studies at the Eastman School of Music and music director of the New York City Opera National Company, among other posts. He was artistic director of the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca in Italy and director of the opera conducting course at CCM Spoleto. Presently artistic director of CCM’s unique immersion program, the Summer Opera Bootcamp, he is also Head of the Conducting Institute at the Miami Music Festival.

Gibson's conducting credits include the Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Cincinnati Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Pacific, New Orleans Opera, Cleveland Opera, Chautauqua Opera and Spoleto U.S.A. International appearances include Central Opera of Beijing; orchestras in Beijing, Chengdu, Xi’an, Tianjin, Shenzhen and Qingdao, China; the Opera de Valencia; Opera de Malaga; and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Spain, the Bochum Symphoniker in Germany, the KBS Symphony Orchestra, COOP and Seoul Symphony Orchestras in Korea, and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra in Manila.

He leads master classes and concerts at many conservatories and orchestras in the US and internationally, including the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, Seoul National University, National Taiwan Normal University, the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and the Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya in Barcelona, and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. His students have won top prizes in the Malko, Pedrotti, Solti, Mahler, Flick, Jeunesses Musicales, Dorati, OFUNAM, Blue Danube, Li Delun, Nikisch, and Maazel conducting competitions.

Notable performances include opera galas at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing and the American concert premiere of the complete, five-act Paris Opera version (1867) of Verdi’s Don Carlos.In 2017, Oxford University Press released Mr. Gibson’s highly acclaimed book on conducting and musical matters, “The Beat Stops Here.”  He is presently at work on the long-anticipated 8th edition of the classic text, “The Modern Conductor,” for Oxford.

BM: New England Conservatory of Music

MM: University of Michigan