Karla Kelley
Karla Kelley started conducting in the mid-1970s, studying privately with Bruce Hangen. She attended the New England Conservatory and then enrolled in their master’s degree program in conducting, studying under Carl St. Clair and Pascal Verrot. She attended workshops with Kurt Mazur, Leonard Slatkin, Robert Spano, and Samuel Jones.
In 1991, she was appointed Assistant Conductor of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra—their first female conductor. In 1987, Ms. Kelley founded the Maine State Ballet Orchestra, which is composed of professional and amateur musicians, as well as talented high school students. The orchestra has performed major works such as: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, Nutcracker, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, and Hansel and Gretel. In collaboration with the Ballet’s Artistic Director, Linda MacArthur Miele, she has produced a number of new ballets. Ms. Kelley was also Assistant Conductor of Portland Opera Repertoire Theatre for two seasons. In 2003, Ms. Kelley was appointed Conductor of Maine’s Coastal Youth Chamber Orchestra in the area of Brunswick, Maine. Since 2009, Ms. Kelley has held an appointment as Artistic Director of the Ocean Park Association of Ocean Park, Maine, where she is developing and expanding the summer music program.
She has been a guest conductor for the Sliven Orchestra of Sliven, Bulgaria; the Cape Ann Symphony Orchestra; the Fall River Symphony Orchestra; the Charles River Sinfonietta; and the Green Mountain Chamber Orchestra, as well as numerous youth orchestras in New England.
Throughout New England, Ms. Kelley is well known as an excellent and sensitive accompanist. She is staff accompanist at the Winchester Community Music School of Winchester, Massachusetts, and Mass Theatrica of Sudbury, Massachusetts. She has been pianist for numerous regional opera companies and orchestras, and a variety of choruses and chamber ensembles. She has accompanied recitals at the New England Conservatory, the Boston Conservatory, Boston University, Eastern Nazarene College, the University of Southern Maine, and numerous studios. She works not only as an accompanist but also as a coach of both singers and instrumentalists.
Ms. Kelley lives in Watertown, Massachusetts. Her other interests include the culinary arts (she has a Professional Chef’s Certificate) and fiber art.