Charles Bruffy (born 1958) is an American

choral conductor Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

. He is artistic director of the Kansas City Chorale in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, and is Chorus Director of the

Kansas City Symphony The Kansas City Symphony (KCS) is an American symphony orchestra based in Kansas City, Missouri. The orchestra is resident at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The orchestra performs a 42-week season, and is also the accompanying o ...

. He lives in Kansas City.

Education and career

Charles Bruffy received his bachelor's degree in piano performance from Missouri Western State College in St. Joseph, Missouri, and a master's degree in vocal performance from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri Kansas City. He received the Spotlight Alumni Award from the Conservatory of Music at UMKC's 1999 Alumni Awards Luncheon. He received the UMKC Class of 2016 Alumni Award for the Conservatory. In October 2017 he received the Signature Sinfonian award from the

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (legally Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha, PMA, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for men with a special interest ...

fraternity. Bruffy began his career as a tenor soloist for

Robert Shaw (conductor) Robert Lawson Shaw (30 April 191625 January 1999) was an American conductor most famous for his work with his namesake Chorale, with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. He was known for drawing pu ...

, performing with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers for recordings and concerts in France and at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

in New York. Shaw encouraged Bruffy's development as a conductor, and in 1996 he was invited by

American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and o ...

's ''

Performance Today ''Performance Today'' is a classical music radio program, first aired in 1987 and hosted since 2000 by Fred Child. It is the most listened-to daily classical music radio program in the United States, with 1.2 million listeners on 237 stations. ...

'' to help celebrate Shaw's eightieth birthday with an on-air tribute. In 1999, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' named Bruffy as the late Shaw's potential heir. Bruffy became artistic director of the Kansas City Chorale in 1988. He has been Director of Music at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church since 1995. He took the reins as Chorus Director of the

Chorus in 2008. Bruffy conducts workshops and clinics both across the US and internationally. In 2015, he conducted the Texas All-State Choir. He presented workshops and conducted one of his choirs, the Kansas City Chorale, for the Association of Canadian Choral Communities at ''Podium 2014'' –

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, in 2014. He was a clinician for the

Anúna Anúna (stylized in all caps) is a vocal ensemble formed in Ireland in 1987 by Irish composer Michael McGlynn under the name An Uaithne. Taking the current name in 1991,AllMusic Biography/ref> the group has recorded 18 albums and achieved a ...

International Choral Summer School in 2013, and his past engagements include clinics and conducting in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China;

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia and

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, Korea among other cities. He has taught at the

Westminster Choir College Westminster Choir College (WCC) is a historic conservatory of music, currently operating on the campus of Rider University, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Rider's College of Arts and Sciences (the college under which the historic institution has ...

Summer Conducting Institute in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

, every summer since 2006. He is a member of the Advisory Boards of the Atlanta Young Singers of Callanwolde and WomenSing in the San Francisco Bay area, and he served on the board of Chorus America for seven years. Bruffy has commissioned and premiered works by composers such as

Ola Gjeilo Ola Gjeilo ( , ; born May 5, 1978) is a Norwegians, Norwegian composer and pianist in the United States. He writes choir, choral music, and has written for piano and concert band, wind symphony, publishing through Walton Music, Edition Peters, ...

, Matthew Harris, Anne Kilstofte,

Libby Larsen Elizabeth Brown Larsen (born December 24, 1950) is a contemporary American classical composer. Along with composer Stephen Paulus, she is a co-founder of the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composers Forum. A former holder of the Pa ...

Zhou Long Zhou Long (; born July 8, 1953) is a Chinese American composer. He won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Biography Zhou Long was born in Beijing, China. Born into an artistic family, he began studying piano from an early age. Due to the artist ...

, Cecilia McDowall, Stephen Paulus, Steven Sametz,

Philip Stopford Philip W. J. Stopford (born 1977) is an English organist and composer best known for his choral works.Philip Stopford w ...

Steven Stucky Steven Edward Stucky (November 7, 1949 − February 14, 2016) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer. Life and career Steven Stucky was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. At age 9, he moved with his family to Abilene, Texas, where, as a teenager ...

, Joan Szymko,

Eric Whitacre Eric Edward Whitacre (born January2, 1970) is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music. Early life Whitacre was born in Reno, Nevada, to Ross and Roxanne Whitacre. He studied piano intermittently as a child a ...

, Jean Belmont and Chen Yi. He has edited scores for the Roger Dean Company, a division of

The Lorenz Corporation The Lorenz Corporation, previously known as Lorenz Publishing Company, is a music publisher located in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It is best known for its publication of church music Church music is a genre of Christian music written for ...

, which publishes a choral series specializing in music for professional ensembles and sophisticated high school and college choirs.

Awards and recognition

Bruffy received three

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

as a conductor, and his albums received five Grammys total. He received the 2008 Grammy for "Best Small Ensemble Performance" with the Phoenix Chorale for ''Spotless Rose''. He won the 2012 Grammy for "Best Choral Performance" with the Kansas City Chorale for ''Life and Breath: Music of René Clausen'' which also won the Grammy for Best Engineered Album-Classical. His recording ''Rachmaninoff: All Night Vigil'' with the combined voices of the Kansas City Chorale and the Phoenix Chorale won the 2015 Grammy for Best Choral Performance. His breakthrough recording was

Alexander Gretchaninov Alexander Tikhonovich GretchaninovAlso commonly transliterated as ''Aleksandr/Alexandre'' ''Grechaninov/Gretchaninoff/Gretschaninow'' ( rus, Алекса́ндр Ти́хонович Гречани́нов, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɡrʲɪtɕɐˈnʲin� ...

's ''Passion Week,'' also featuring the two Chorales together. It won the 2007

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for "Best Engineered Classical Album". His albums were nominated for 12 Grammy Awards total, including four nominations in 2007 for ''Passion Week'', two in 2008 for ''Sacred Choral Works of Josef Rheinberger'', two in 2008 for ''Spotless Rose'', two in 2012 for ''Life and Breath'', and two in 2015 for ''All-Night Vigil''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruffy, Charles American choral conductors American male conductors (music) 1958 births Living people Missouri Western State University alumni University of Missouri–Kansas City alumni 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American male musicians