CreativeShare Fellows › Mark Sforzini, Conductor and Composer
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| Photo: Martin U. K. Lengemann |
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Mark Sforzini is proud to be a part of the vibrant St. Petersburg arts scene and is quickly gaining widespread recognition as a passionate conductor and inspired composer. In his various posts, Sforzini conducts a full range of repertoire, including standard orchestral repertoire, chamber ensembles, pops, and his greatest passion, opera. Over the past three years, Sforzini has conducted Madama Butterfly, The Barber of Seville, Die Fledermaus, La Bohème, and L’Elisir d’Amore and will lead Don Giovanni later this season with the St. Petersburg Opera.
Sforzini is also the artistic director of FloriMezzo, and enjoyed engagements this past year conducting Fauré’s Requiem, the Progress Energy Center for the Arts Fourth of July Concert, and the FloriMezzo Goes to the Opera evening of Carmen highlights. Sforzini is also the artistic director of the Encore Series at the Palladium. Prior to becoming artistic director and conductor for the St. Petersburg Opera and helping to create FloriMezzo, Sforzini served for three years as music director of the Pinellas Youth Symphony and for many years as a composer-mentor for Hillsborough County schools.
Highly sought after as a composer, Sforzini has been commissioned by, among others, the Florida Orchestra, the Naples Philharmonic, FloriMezzo, the Palladium Theater, the Pinellas Youth Symphony, the Crested Butte Music Festival, Ray and Nancy Murray, J. B. Starkey Jr., the Preis Family, Marian Moorhead, Karen Danessa and Henry Grabb, Elizabeth Morrow, the Hillsborough Arts Council, and the City of Tampa Water Department. He recently accepted a major commission from an anonymous donor to compose a full opera, which prompted his departure from the Florida Orchestra after serving as principal bassoon from 1992 to 2007.
During his 15-year tenure with the Florida Orchestra, Sforzini enjoyed soloing frequently with the orchestra and other ensembles and continues to be an avid performer of chamber music. Sforzini has also played principal bassoon with the Crested Butte Music Festival every July since 2003, where he was also the composer-in-residence in 2003. Mark is a native of Auburn, Alabama, and was recently featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Fifty Years of Faces in the Crowd” for his childhood claim to fame — winning the 1979 World Hula Hoop Championship on Dinah Shore’s television program.