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Rob Moose

conductor

About this Artist

Indie-classical multi-instrumentalist Rob Moose has established an eclectic presence as performer, arranger and conductor in the rapidly changing atmosphere of contemporary performing arts. A graduate of The Manhattan School of Music in violin performance, Moose has forged new paths for artistic expression and cross-genre collaboration, simultaneously raising the standard of orchestration in the indie rock world and offering an unfastened approach to traditional and contemporary classical performance.

Moose regularly performs with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall and has played concertmaster for Burt Bacharach and James Carter, viola for Jay-Z, and violin for Savion Glover, Vampire Weekend, Josh Groban and Duncan Sheik. Further proving his versatility and wide-reaching musical interests, Moose frequently performs on Broadway, playing violin and electric guitar in the Tony Award-winning "Spring Awakening," as well as violin and mandolin in the Tony Award-nominated "Cry Baby." He is an active studio musician for film and television projects and has recently made forays into record producing.

In 2005, Moose joined the Mercury Prize-winning chamber pop ensemble Antony and the Johnsons as guitarist, violinist and backup vocalist. He has since toured the world with the group, performing in cities as diverse as Moscow, Istanbul, Sao Paolo, Reykjavik and Melbourne, as well as in top venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York City, The Royal Albert Hall in London and on the "Late Show with David Letterman." Moose is featured on Antony's forthcoming album, "The Crying Light" (Secretly Canadian, January 2009).

In addition to performing with Sufjan Stevens and his band for the past 3 years, Moose recently embarked on several classical collaborations with the protean composer/performer. In 2007, Moose co-orchestrated seven of Stevens' songs for a special performance at The Kennedy Center with members of its Opera Orchestra, a concert that Moose also conducted. More recently, Moose served as concertmaster for The Brooklyn Academy of Music's premiere of Stevens' critically acclaimed "BQE", and conducted the orchestra in a set of songs.

In 2008, Moose began touring in a duo with electronic/folk sensation, Beth Orton. Contributing acoustic and slide guitar, piano, mandolin and violin, Moose has enhanced stripped-down versions of Orton's songs with a variety of tonal colors. Moose has also begun collaborating with the band The National, arranging and performing songs for their "Brooklyn Next" festival appearances. In these concerts, he has also performed with the opening act, My Brightest Diamond, with whom he has worked since 2003.

Moose's discography includes releases by Antony and the Johnsons, Sufjan Stevens, Loudon Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright, Linda Thompson, Jay-Z, Marianne Faithfull, My Brightest Diamond, Gene Bertoncini and The Walkmen. He is currently developing three independent projects: Osso, a string quartet currently recording arrangements of Sufjan Stevens' electronic music (Asthmatic Kitty Records), Bach Reformed, a duo that recasts Bach's unaccompanied pieces for cello and violin in a spirited, folk setting, and yMusic, a collective of New York's preeminent young freelance performers, actively engaged and equally comfortable in the often overlapping classical and pop music worlds.