Ravinia 2024 Issue 4

Running UP the SCORE Conductor Anthony Parnther hits high marks between stage and studio BYKYLEMACMILLAN MOST CONDUCTORS follow the clas- sic symphonic and operatic repertory, some focus on a specialty like choral mu- sic or orchestral pops. But Anthony Parn- ther is a kind of conducting Renaissance man, who has cut a wide swath across the musical landscape, from helming the San Bernadino Symphony Orchestra to working with vocal sensations like Ri- hanna, Common, and Jon Batiste to lead- ing myriad film soundtracks. “Disney in the morning, Dvořák in the evening,” the busy conductor said breezily. ¶ “He is, in his exceptional musical reach, the quintessential L.A. musician of our day,” wrote classical music critic Mark Swed in the Los Angeles Times in July 2023. Swed reviewed two proximate concerts that the 42-year-old maestro conducted at the Music Academy of the West and Monk Space, a small gallery and studio space on the outskirts of Koreatown, and the critic extolled both as “extraordinary.” RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUGUST 5 – AUGUST 18, 2024 14