Martin Piecuch (pronounced PQ in USA and Pyet sook in Russia) was Music Director & Conductor of Washington Symphony Orchestra 1990-98, where he led the orchestra through a growth period of budget, audience, and artistic development. Crowning his tenure with WSO he produced an international orchestra with musicians from the WSO, the Bohuslava Martinu Orchestra from Zlin, Czech Republic, and the Ukraine Radio/TV Orchestra in a 21-Concert Tour of Germany and Austria. He has also conducted at Kennedy Center, Washington DC, Indiana University Orchestra in Bloomington, the Danville (IL) Symphony Orchestra.

He has enjoyed 19 conducting tours of Russia, during which he was named Permanent Guest Conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic, and Guest Conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic as well as the St. Petersburg Opera. He has also guest conducted on the podia of the orchestras and/or opera houses of Archangelsk, Krasnoyarsk, Yakutsk, Omsk, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakalinsk, often as the first American to do so. He was especially honored that in 2005 he led the Russian premiere of Firebird, composed by the previously censored Igor Stravinsky, in Vladivostok. Russia’s Minister of Culture presented him with a Bronze Medal.

Outside Russia, Mro. Piecuch has conducted the Seoul National Orchestra, South Korea, Hradec Králové Philharmonic in Czech Republic, Vogtland Philharmonie of Greiz/ Reichenbach, Germany where he was the first American conductor.

Mro. Piecuch has led over 800 performances at Kennedy Center, Washington DC, the Conservatorio Nacional de Music, Mexico City, Carter Barron, the American Light Opera Company and Wolf Trap were he was the first resident conductor, orchestra manager and chorusmaster. He served as Music Director/Conductor of Washington Civic Opera and Symphony, and Conductor of Alexandria Choral Society. He was Music Director of Aldersgate Choir which he led on tour in Germany, Austria and Hungary.

Mro. Piecuch’s Kennedy Center conducting debut was in 1996: the world premiere of the Chinese opera LanYing, the first of 10 collaborations with Broadway director Elizabeth Falk. In September 2001 he made his New York debut at the Society for Ethical Culture, leading a Puccini Ring Cycle: Gianni Schicchi, Messa di Gloria, and his onstage wedding with Ms. Falk.

Also a virtuoso soloist, this native of Maine began his professional career as the saxophone soloist with the U.S. Marine Band. He holds five Bachelor of Music Degrees, one in each of the instruments: bassoon, oboe, clarinet, flute and saxophones. He graduated Summa Cum Laude, and earned a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting from Catholic University of America, studying with Frederick Fennell. He was Founder/Director of Washington Woodwind & Saxophone Quartet, guest flutist at Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, and from 1963-1992 was Saxophone Soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra under Aaron Copland, Antal Dorati and Julius Rudell. He accompanied Beverly Sills, Henry Mancini, Dinah Shore, Johnny Mathis and Anthony Newley at Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, National and Ford’s Theaters. Recently, he’s performed with his quartet Jazzical Fusion at Birdland, 54 Below and Kitano’s, to name but 3, and at the Krasnoyarsk International Asian-Pacific Music Festival in Russia.

He has two CD’s: Sax with Strings Attached featuring himself on winds with the Stravinsky String Quartet of St. Petersburg, recorded in Russia, and Jazzical Fusion, recorded in the US.

A dedicated educator, he’s given Master Classes from the Conservatorio Nacional de Music in Mexico City to the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki, Finland and dozens of points in between. He has served on the faculties of St. Mary’s College, Howard University and Catholic University of America.

Maestro Piecuch and Elizabeth Falk live in New York City and in Stonington, Connecticut. They spend at least 2 months a year in Latino countries, visiting Cuba for the first time in December 2016 when he played Lead Alto Sax with Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Cuban Jazz Alliance. They are thrilled to return!