James Allbritten

James Allbritten is in his 19th  season as Artistic Director for Piedmont Opera,. His work for the company has received considerable critical acclaim.  Of PO’s Madama Butterfly, Opera Lively said, “Jamie Allbritten does understand it, and his conducting, if we need to define it by one word, is elegant.”  The New York Wagner Society had this to say of his Flying Dutchman: “The joy of the afternoon was Allbritten’s finely modulated conducting, which brought out the varying moods of the score.” Of the company’s Un ballo in maschera, Opera News said, “The musical excellence for the entire evening was the work of the conductor, James Allbritten … His tempos were well chosen, attacks were precise, and coordination and balance with the singers was exemplary.” He has led a wide range of repertoire, from Mozart to nineteenth century standard repertoire, to the opera house premiere of Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza. He was fortunate to have worked with some of the greatest names in opera, including Boris Goldovsky, Brian Balkwill, James Lucas, Nicola Rossi- Lemeni, Virginia Zeani, Giorgio Tozzi and Margaret Harshaw. Allbritten came to North Carolina to join the faculty of the UNCSA, where he served for twenty years.  He led the school’s Cantata Singers, Orchestra and was the founding Artistic Director of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute.  He has also led performances for Opera Theater of the Rockies, Opera Carolina, the Carolina Chamber Symphony, the Mozart Club of Winston Salem, and the Winston-Salem Symphony.