Brent McMunn
Brent McMunn, the conductor and music director of Opera at USC’s Thornton School of Music, is nationally known and admired as both a conductor and pianist. In the field of opera, he has served as an assistant and cover conductor for over 100 productions in his years at Los Angeles Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera and Santa Fe Opera. His conducting debut was in 1998 at the New York City Opera, where he continued to conduct for the following five seasons. Guest conducting followed, with appearances at Arizona Opera, Kentucky Opera, Opera Saratoga, Calgary Opera and others. His long-standing affiliation with the Pittsburgh Festival Opera included a highly successful series of five Strauss operas. As a pianist, McMunn has collaborated with many eminent musicians, including members of the Juilliard String Quartet, cellist Lynn Harrell and ECM recording artist Michelle Makarski. He has appeared in recital at Carnegie Hall and at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and for many years has been the official pianist for the Western Region of the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition. McMunn has worked extensively with young and emerging singers in the major companies he has worked for, as a faculty coach at the Juilliard School and the Aspen Music Festival, and he is most proud of his 20 years with the singers and players of USC Thornton.
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