Robert DeCormier
2008-03-03 13:45:05 - Back
A graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, Robert De Cormier's conducting engagements have taken him from Broadway and opera to numerous concert tours throughout the United States and Canada with the Robert De Cormier Singers.
For many years Mr. De Cormier acted as conductor and arranger for Harry Belafonte. He has been music director for the popular folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary since 1980. For seventeen years he was the music director of the New York Choral Society. Under his leadership the group became renowned for its high standard of excellence in choral singing and unique variety of programming.
In 1993 he helped initiate the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Chorus and in 2000 he founded Vermont's professional vocal ensemble, the eleven-member Counterpoint.
Mr. De Cormier has written several works ranging from choral to Broadway and ballet scores, including the Broadway musicals The Happiest Girl In The World and The World of Sholem Aleichem. The Alvin Ailey Ballet Theatre production of Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder features a score written by Mr. De Cormier.
He has also arranged extensively, from African-American spirituals to American and international folk songs. His recordings appear on Arabesque, Book-of-the-Month Club, Newport Classics, Musical Heritage Society, Deutches Gramophone and Columbia Masterworks labels and include his own compositions, 'Legacy' and 'Sonnets To Orpheus.'
Mr. De Cormier's television credits include a choral series with the BBC, specials for Thames TV and PBS with Jessye Norman; an Emmy award winning special with Harry Belafonte; and with Peter, Paul and Mary, A Holiday Concert, Lifelines, and Peter, Paul and Mommy Too, all for PBS.
In September 2002, Vermont Acting Governor Douglas Racine presented Mr. De Cormier with the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts.