Biography

The primary influence in Eric’s development as an artist and musician continues to be the complete immersion comes from working, rehearsing and presenting live music. For nearly four decades, in orchestras and ensembles of every size and configuration, preparing and performing music from all eras and styles, Eric’s depth of experience has not come from isolated score study or class group discussions, but from being a player submerged within the soundscape of the piece, from inside the ensemble as it responds to the music itself. Additionally, because of so many years a player, Eric brings to the podium a clear understanding of what players look for, respond to, and are motivated by. All of this underscores and fuels his deep commitment to the true elements of constructive work in rehearsal, leading to exciting performance. It is the music itself that guides and dictates all efforts to prepare and perform it, to inspire and enthrall the eager public there to witness it.

Podium engagements have included a wide variety of venues and styles. In 2023, he directed the Georgian Sinfonietta in the gala final concert of the 9^th Double Bass World festival in Tbilisi. 2021 had Eric at the helm of the BYU Philharmonic in two concerts, each a “potpourri” program of varied classics which included Brahms, Copland, Adams, Barber, Verdi, Debussy and Liszt. A spin-off project from those concerts was a recording session for the original work, Homage To A Son by Steve Lindeman. This was done at the LDS Motion Picture Studios in July that year, with an orchestra comprising members of the Utah Symphony, the Ballet West orchestra, and the Orchestra at Temple Square. The National Symphony Orchestra of Ecuador in Quito invited Eric to guest conduct in 2017, a program beginning with four of the opus 46 Slavonic Dances of Dvorak, two solo selections including pianist Victor Asuncion in presenting Ravel’s Concerto Pour le Main Gauche, then ending with Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances—the first time for the orchestra to learn and present this monumental masterpiece. For the Utah Lyric Opera, he conducted their annual Easter presentation of Handel’s Messiah from 2012-2015.

Other conducting has included popular styles: in 2015 Eric was on the podium for Spectacular! a concert at BYU featuring Broadway star Kristen Chenoweth. From 2012-2019 Eric was Music Director of the BYU Young Ambassadors, with concert tours to South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Brazil. In 2007 as part of a special collaboration between the Martha Graham Dance Company and the BYU dancEnsemble, Eric conducted the performance of Norman Lloyd’s famous Panorama. In musical theater, he has conducted in productions of You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, Awaiting Answers, The Music Man, Oklahoma, and Peter Pan.