LEXINGTON CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
CORE MUSICIANS
ARTISTIC DIRECTORMarcelo Cormio
Italian conductor Marcello Cormio has distinguished himself for his energetic style and engaging persona on the podium. His insightful approach to the score and refined musicianship—combined with a great sense of dramatic pacing—have gained him the favor of orchestras, opera companies, and audiences alike. Cormio’s work ranges from operatic and symphonic conducting to coaching singers to education at all levels. He has been active as a pianist, coach and conductor for over two decades, both in Europe and in the USA.
Cormio has been a frequent guest conductor at the Sarasota Opera, leading productions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni (2023), Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles (2022), Pergolesi’s La serva padrona (2021). In the summer of 2021, he led a production of La Traviata with La Musica Lirica Opera Festival.
He has appeared with orchestras around the United States and Europe, including the San Antonio Symphony, the Orchestra della Società dei Concerti di Bari, the Bacau Symphony, and the Orchestra Sinfonica del Conservatorio di Bari. In recent years, he has developed a fruitful artistic relationship with the Orchestra Sinfonica della Città Metropolitana di Bari, leading the orchestra in several cycles of performances as guest conductor. He has also served as cover conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with the Irish Tenors, serving as conductor for their 2018 Christmas tour, and leading several performances to sold out auditoriums around North America.
Cormio’s commitment to education has been constant and all-encompassing throughout his career. He currently devotes a considerable part of his time and energies to his work as Music Director of the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras: there, he leads symphonic ensembles and oversees an El Sistema community program as well as several other impactful educational endeavors, sharing his inexhaustible passion for music with hundreds of young talents every year and contributing to building the future generations of orchestra musicians.
He has also been on the faculty of the University of Kentucky as Director of the University of Kentucky Philharmonia orchestra.
He is sought after as a faculty at summer opera festivals, such as the Savannah VOICE Festival (conductor of Hansel and Gretel), the Bay View Music Festival (conductor of Die Zauberflöte), Opera do Recife (Brazil), Prague Summer Nights (Czech Republic), Classic Lyric Arts - Berkshires. He is the Artistic Director of the Nashville Belcanto Foundation, and was previously Artistic Director of the Opera Lucca Festival in Lucca, Italy.
Cormio holds graduate degrees in piano, composition, conducting, and musicology from Italian conservatories and universities, as well as a Master of Music degree from Indiana University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kentucky..
CONCERT MASTERMargie Karp
Margaret Karp is a full time Lecturer in Violin and Viola at the University of Kentucky School of Music. She is Assistant Concertmaster of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, and has just completed her eighth summer as an artist faculty member of the Brevard Music Center. For six years she was principal second violin of the Florida Orchestra and the Sarasota Opera. Ms. Karp also was a member of the Philharmonia da Camera in Dortmund, Germany. She is a frequent performer on both violin and viola in chamber music festivals throughout the United States. Ms. Karp was a student of James Buswell at Indiana University, with additional studies with Russian virtuoso Valery Gradow and Israeli pedagogue Yair Kless. She works regularly with the Kentucky All State Orchestras and the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras, and leads an annual All State Audition Workshop at the University of Kentucky. In addition to UK, Ms. Karp has taught at both Transylvania University and Centre College and was a faculty member of the Interlochen Arts Camp. In 2015 Ms. Karp was a participant in the inaugural Vernon Castleman Viola Seminar held at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2005 she was named Outstanding Studio Teacher of the Year and in 2015 was awarded Outstanding Educator by the Kentucky chapter of the American String Teachers Association.