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Conductor Robert Franz is the Resident Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Music Director of the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra. Maestro Franz is also Music Director Emeritus of the Carolina Chamber Symphony. Previously he held conducting positions with the Louisville Orchestra, Louisville Youth Orchestra, Winston-Salem Piedmont Triad Symphony, Winston-Salem Youth Symphony, and the National Repertory Orchestra. Maestro Franz has guest conducted North Carolina, Chatanooga, Columbus (OH), Charleston, Mississippi, National Repertory, Reading, Oshkosh, Spokane and Winston-Salem symphonies; as well as the Rochester Philharmonic, the Cumberland Valley Chamber Players; Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, the NCSA summer Music Festival, Illuminations, the Asheville Lyric Opera Company, and the Killington Music Festival String Orchestra.
A champion of new music, Maestro Franz conducted the ASCAP award winning new music concert series of The Louisville Orchestra and has been a co-host of “ In a Different Key,” a weekly contemporary music radio program on WUOL. He has conducted world premieres of works by: Paul Brink, Lawrence Dillon, David Dzubay, David Froom, Louis Karchin, Terese Kaptur, Vaclav Nelhybel, Russell Peck, Steve Rouse, Vache Sharafyan, Marc Satterwhite, Don Knaack and David Stock.
Maestro Franz, a strong advocate of arts education, has designed and implemented arts education programs for the Carolina Chamber Symphony; The Buffalo Philharmonic, The Louisville Orchestra; the West End Chamber Ensemble; and the Winston-Salem Piedmont Triad Symphony, including that organization’s innovative "Bolton Research Project". Under his direction The Louisville Orchestra won the “Leonard Bernstein Award for Education Programming” in 2001 and created a 2.5 hour education program for Kentucky Educational Television entitled, “Creating Music and Stories.” In addition, Maestro Franz works with professional musicians and music students developing their skills at creating and presenting education programs. He has worked with members of the Pittsburgh, Evansville, Chattanooga, Columbus (OH), Louisville and New World Symphonies, and students at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music and Chicago University.
As an oboist, Maestro Franz participated in the NEA/CMA Rural Residency Chamber Music Initiative and held the English Horn position with the Winston-Salem Piedmont Triad Symphony. In addition, conductor Robert Franz has participated in Children's Center and Enrichment Center chamber music residencies designed to provide arts enrichment experiences for people with disabilities.
Maestro Franz received his Master of Music degree in conducting from the North Carolina School of the Arts in 1992 and his Bachelor of Music degree in oboe performance in 1990 from that same institution. He has participated in conducting workshops in the Czech Republic, St. Petersburg (Russia), Nashville (ASOL), the Festival at Sandpoint and was a participant in the 1997 National Conductor Preview (ASOL).
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