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Music Director Kim Allen Kluge |
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 Meet the Maestro
Distinguished by his powerful conducting style and its dramatic impact, Maestro Kluge has been likened to the great poetic conductors of our time. The Washington Post hailed, “Kluge’s sense of drama was evident... relentless pressure I associate with Arturo Toscanini…” The Alexandria Journal lauded Maestro Kluge’s passionate style commenting, “In its power, Kluge’s performance bore the hallmarks of the work of such mesmerizing conductors as Artur Nikisch and ... Leonard Bernstein.”
As current Music Director of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra in the Nation's Capital, Maestro Kluge's accomplishments were noted by The Washington Post "...Kluge has fashioned an ensemble with tremendous musical responsiveness, and every instrumental group... bears the mark of his intelligence and drive."
A popular and successful guest conductor, his extensive accomplishments also include appearances with the Sinfonietta de Paris, Les Solistes Parisiens, the Mannheim Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and the Baltimore Lyric Opera.
Throughout Maestro Kluge’s versatile career, he has worked as concertmaster, orchestral keyboardist, wind player, organist, singer, chamber musician, recitalist, concerto soloist, chorus director, vocal coach, composer and arranger. He is a Valedictorian of Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he served as concertmaster of the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra and received the coveted Arthur Dann Award for Outstanding Pianist and the Pi Kappa Lamda Scholarship for Musical Excellence. Maestro Kluge pursued doctorates in Piano and Conducting from the University of Maryland and received a Conducting diploma from the Academia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. He participated in the prestigious Tanglewood Conducting Program, where he studied with Seiji Ozawa, Roger Norrington and Simon Rattle. Most recently, he garnered the 2006 Wammie Award for Best Conductor given by the Washington Area Music Awards.
In his work, Maestro Kluge merges music with other performing, visual and literary arts. He has recruited and collaborated with many artists and arts organizations in his zeal for promoting multi-arts programming including: The Sackler Freer Smithsonian Museum in a program celebrating Islamic culture shortly after 911; The Torpedo Factory and Art League of Alexandria for a multi-season exploration of music and art; The Hirshorn Museum in a concert exploring synaesthesia (the merging of the senses); as well as many of Washington D.C.'s most adventuresome dance companies and theaters such as the Shakespeare Theatre and Signature Theatre. He was also co-founder and Artistic Director of Washington D.C.'s Capital City Opera.
Maestro Kluge is also earning glowing acclaim as a composer. He recently co-founded Moon Valley Ranch Music (moonvalleyranchmusic.com) with his wife Kathryn for the composition of film scores and concert music. Kluge's compositional approach creates a fresh synthesis of Western and Global influences, classical and popular styles and instrumental and vocal colors. His recent commissions include: Vocalise, a concerto written for and performed by Branford Marsalis; Haiku Suite, choreographed and performed by Bowen McCauley Dance at the Kennedy Center; the score for silent film, A Christmas Carol, commissioned by the National Gallery of Art; and most recently, Le Passage, a concerto written for the violinist, Midori.
Maestro Kluge's creative work derives from his passion and conviction that people of radically different backgrounds can share the essence of their humanity through artistic expression. The common denominator in Kim Allen Kluge's work is his desire to reach audiences in a visceral and thought-provoking manner, often through the juxtaposition or synthesis of disparate styles or genres. |
