Vincent La Selva (September 17, 1929 – October 9, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio) was an American conductor. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he began performing at the age of 8 and by the age of 12 he was conducting student performances. He received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

, where he served on the faculty beginning in 1969. After his graduation from Juilliard, he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

where he conducted the First Army band at

Fort Jay Fort Jay is a coastal bastion fort and the name of a former United States Army post on Governors Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. Fort Jay is the oldest existing defensive structure on the island, and was named for John Jay, a memb ...

Governor's Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk Channel. The National Park ...

. His idea of presenting free productions began in 1954 when he founded the Xavier Symphony Society, made up of volunteer performers.

Gian-Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept ...

was so taken by La Selva's performance of ''

The Saint of Bleecker Street ''The Saint of Bleecker Street'' is an opera in three acts by Gian Carlo Menotti to an original English libretto by the composer. It was first performed at the Broadway Theatre in New York City on December 27, 1954. David Poleri and Davis Cunni ...

'', that Menotti had La Selva perform the piece at New York's City Opera. This led to his being hired to conduct the City Opera's orchestra full-time.

Founding of the New York Grand Opera Company

La Selva founded the New York Grand Opera Company in 1973. Beginning in 1974, he performed complete operas at no charge to the public in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

. One of the most ambitious projects of the NYGO was the chronological presentation, from 1994 onwards, of all of

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's operas, beginning with '' Oberto'' (1839) and ending with ''

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

'' in 2000 and with the finale of the series being the

Requiem Mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

performed on the 100th anniversary of Verdi's death, 27 January 2001, at Carnegie Hall. In November 2006, NYGO performed Beethoven's symphony no.9 at the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall with soprano Maria Knapik, mezzo-soprano Jeeminn Lee, tenor Edward Perretti and baritone Fredrick Redd.

Other conducting venues

La Selva conducted the New Jersey Symphony, the

Symphony of the Air The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC Symphony performed weekly radio concert broadcasts with Tosc ...

, the Juilliard Symphony, the

Brno State Philharmonic Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

and the Bern Symphony.

Awards and honors

In 1995 the

President of Italy The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic ( it, Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian poli ...

knighted La Selva as a "Cavaliere" in the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

for his performances of Giuseppe Verdi works. La Selva received the

Handel Medallion The Handel Medallion is an American award presented by the City of New York. It is the city's highest award given to individuals for their contribution to the city's intellectual and cultural life. Establishment The award was first issued in 19 ...

for his contributions to the cultural life of New York City. He was awarded the world record for performing all of Verdi's works in chronological order and ending with the last on the 100th anniversary of Verdi's death.

Notes

External links

New York Grand Opera Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Selva, Vincent 1929 births 2017 deaths American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Musicians from Cleveland