AOSA Advocates
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AOSA ADVOCACY COUNCIL
AOSA Advocates are outstanding artists from various fields who were invited to join the Council because of their interest in quality arts education for children and their contact with a large audience. They acknowledge the unique value of Orff Schulwerk as a group pedagogy for music learning, and agree to support it publicly. Each new advocate is welcomed and introduced at a national conference.
Robert Page
Play Video of Interview with the Dr. PageAlthough recently retired after more than 25 years as Music Director of the Mendelssohn Choir of 
Pittsburgh, Robert Page continues his career as a conductor and educator throughout North America. He celebrates the 2009 Haydn Year with performances of that master’s oratorios in a number of North American cities. In addition he holds the Paul Mellon University Professor of Music Chair at Carnegie Mellon University as well as being the Director of Choral Studies and Associate Head, School of Music. Named Pennsylvania’s Artist of the Year in 1998, he has been dubbed "a national treasure" by American Record Review.
Serving as Assistant Conductor and Director of Choruses of The Cleveland Orchestra from 1971-1989, Dr. Page conducted the world-renowned ensemble on many occasions, including national radio and television broadcasts. Since 1989 he has held the title of Director of Special Projects and Choral Activities with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Prior to coming to Pittsburgh, Page served on the faculty of Temple University and was Music Director of The Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, preparing choruses for the Philadelphia Orchestra for 19 years.
In great demand as conductor of symphony orchestras, opera and music theater productions, Page has conducted many of the major orchestras of the United States, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh. Minnesota. Houston, Dallas, Louisiana. Milwaukee, Virginia and San Antonio, as well as the opera companies of Cleveland, Kansas City, Toledo and Opera Carolina. In Europe, he has conducted the Royal Philharmonic Opera Orchestra (London) and the Luxembourg RTL Orchestra at the Echternach Festival. In June1995, Page conducted the Czech State Philharmonic of Brno and The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh in performances of the Beethoven Missa Solemnis in Brno, Prague and Cracow, and the Budapest Concert Orchestra (MAV) with The Mendelssohn Choir in a performance of the Verdi Requiem in Budapest. In 1997, Page was invited to conduct the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra performances of Carmina Burana in the Czech Republic and Vienna, during the summers of 1999 and 2000, the orchestra invited him back to conduct the opening concerts of the Dvorak Festival in, Zlonice (Dvorak's home town), Prague, the Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna, Salzburg and Munich. In 2001, Page conducted the Robert Page Festival Singers and the State Orchestra of St. Petersburg in performances of the Verdi Requiem in the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg and Novgorod (Russia), Helsinki (Finland) and at the opening concert of the Mikkeli Festival In Mikkeli, Finland.
Dr. Page's work can be heard on more than forty discs issued by major companies including Columbia, London, RCA, Telarc and Decca. He has received Grammy awards for his recordings of Orff's Carmina Burana and Catulli Carmina. and has eight other Grammy nominations to his credit. He is also the recipient of the Grand Prix du Disque for Porgy and Bess and the Prix Mondial de Montreux for his world premiere recording of the Shostakovich Symphony 13: Babi Yar.
Active in the national choral scene. Page has served on the choral, festival and overview panels of the National Endowment for the Arts. He is a founding member of Chorus America, the service organization for independent choruses, serving as its president for three years. He was also one of the first members of the American Choral Directors Association, and was so honored in 2001.
Robert Page has been the catalyst in the commissioning of major works of the 20th century, including Turbae (Alberto Ginastera) the Lovers (Samuel Barber), Ball (Richard Hundley), . . . among the voices (Bernard Rands) and, for the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh An American Oratorio (Ned Rorem) and Missa Mysteriorum (Nancy Galbraith). He was the chorus master for the Chicago Lyric Opera/La Scala production of Paradise Lost (Krystof Penderecki) at the composer's request. During his tenure with the Cleveland Orchestra he conducted the first performances of Mass of Life (Frederick Delius); Passion According to St. Luke (Penderecki) as well as the Rorem and Ginastera commissioned works. He has presented Pittsburgh with the first performances of William Schuman’s Concerto on Old English Rounds for Viola, Women’s Voices and Orchestra, Shostakovich's Symphony 13: Babi Yar, Leonardo Balada’ s Torquemado, Ned Rorem's Goodbye, My Fancy, and the first professional performance of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem.
Page earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Abilene Christian College (magna cum laude), a Master of Music degree from Indiana University and is the recipient of honorary degrees from Beaver, Quincy, Drury and Seton Hill Colleges as well as from his alma mater. Page is married to Glynn Page, Professor of Drama Emerita at Carnegie Mellon University. They have two daughters, Paula Page, Principal Harp with the Houston Symphony, and Carolann Page, internationally known singer and actress.
Our mission is: to demonstrate the value of Orff Schulwerk and promote its widespread use; to support the professional development of our members; and to inspire and advocate for the creative potential of all learners.